Research on Youth. Research on Sunday School. Applying the Simple Church

Research on Youth Research on Sunday School Applying the Simple Church

in this issue: 5 LifeWay s Research: YOUTH STATS 12 LifeWay s Research: SUNDAY SCHOOL STATS 6 Why Young Adults Drop Out of Church and what we can do to stem the tide 13 A p p l y i n g t h e Simple CHURCH All product prices and availability in this issue subject to change without notice. RECONSIDER 3

Dawn Cornelius Marketing Strategist, International and Ethnic Markets Calvin Ho Marketing Specialist, Marketing Communications & Promotions Toby Taylor Graphic Designer At LifeWay, we constantly challenge ourselves to know, love, and help churches. But in order to help you, we must first know you. This is why we spend countless hours speaking to churches found across the country just like you, to realize the visions and obstacles of African-American churches today. Elgia Wells Director, Black Church Leadership and Consulting jay.wells@lifeway.com 615-251-2805 Jeffrey Curtis Church Consultant, Black Church Leadership and Consulting jeffrey.curtis@lifeway.com 615-251-2714 Charles Grant Church Consultant, Black Church Leadership and Consulting charles.grant@lifeway.com 615-251-2371 Merilyn Head Administrative Assistant, Black Church Consulting Tim Davis Market Analyst, Market Research and Intelligence Last issue we covered the two topics of men and blended families (you can view at www.lifeway.com/blackchurchlife). In this issue, through our research, we reveal and reflect on key findings associated with foundational Christian truths and youth. Two very important topics that churches deal with as we make decisions that impact our congregations. Reconsider is a tool and a challenge for churches to evaluate the way they minister to different people and different situations in our communities. Through several issues, we will share our research and findings for the very first time, along with providing ways and resources to help churches be more effective. In order to deliver His message, your church has needs that must be met in a way that makes sense in a way that is relevant. And LifeWay wants to be your sustained, hopeful advocate in meeting these needs and furthering your ministry. Adam Creel Performance Analyst Janice Bell Director, Customer Service Department Chandra Bennett Editor, YOU -Connect. Grow. Serve. Go! Bible Study Regina Gibson Women s Ministry Specialist Art Groomes Discipleship and Evangelism Specialist Christina Crawley Zimmerman Editorial Project Leader, Leadership and Adult Publishing Keep Getting Reconsider: Subscribe to our Black Church Life e-newsletter at www.lifeway.com/blackchurchlife and receive regular updates and insights for your ministry. Featured stories from this issue along with others will be available: Log onto www.lifeway.com/blackchurchlife to download a PDF of this and future issues. This is a marketing publication, therefore back issues will not be available in print. RECONSIDER 4 For more information or inquiries on ReConsider, please contact Dawn Cornelius at: dawn.cornelius@lifeway.com

LifeWay s Research: YOUTH STATS 70% 70 percent of 23-30 year olds stopped attending church regularly for at least a year between ages 18-22 Ages young people attend church at least twice a month 70% Under 14 Age 14 68% 66% % attending 2+ times per month Age 15 Age 16 68% Age 17 58% 44% Age 18 Only 20% of church dropouts planned to leave church after high school 20% YES 80% NO *Unless otherwise noted, all data is from LifeWay s primary research. RECONSIDER 5

The issue of young adults dropping out of church has been a hot topic for several years. The long-term effectiveness of youth ministry has been called into question and there has been substantial concern raised about the future of the Christian church in America. In addition, there have been precious few accurate studies of this issue, with many leaders quoting anecdotal reports to bolster their personal opinions. LifeWay Research recently conducted a careful study of the issue and has discovered that 70% of young adults (ages 23-30) dropped out of church RECONSIDER 6 By Student Ministry Staff for at least a year between the ages of 18-22. That 70% includes many who spent their teenage years as active members of their church youth group. The sharpest drop occurs between the ages of 17-19 and reasons for leaving the church fall into three main categories: life changes or situations, church or pastor related reasons, and religious, ethical, or political beliefs. What is happening in the years preceding this dropout epidemic? Can anything be done to change this trend? While this is an issue that raises many concerns, the research also reveals some clues that contribute to young adults remaining connected to the church beyond their teenage years.

Students need a web of caring adults around them...as they mature into adulthood. The Family The importance of the religious practice and beliefs of parents and families cannot be overstated. From the study, several familyrelated factors contributed to young adults remaining in church. Such as: Consider what your church would be like if the men were attending church when the young adult was 17 no longer on sidelines of spiritual expected at school life practices and leadership. and rehearsals! Parents still married to each other and both Parents/family members providing spiritual guidance, praying together regularly, and actively serving in the church Father attending church and parental expectations of church attendance. The biblical instruction (Deut. 6:4-6) for parents to be the primary agents in the spiritual development of their children has not changed and should not be ignored. Parents must be encouraged and equipped to fulfill this important role and avoid the attitude that the church should be solely responsible for the spiritual instruction of their children. Too often there has been an unhealthy (and perhaps unknowing) collusion between parents and church leaders, with parents believing Isn t that why we are paying our ministers? and ministers believing I can do a better job of this than most parents. Communication is the key, whether it is talking about spiritual matters, praying together (beyond blessings at meal times) or the bare minimum of parents expressing to their children that church attendance (for all the right reasons) is expected. Talking about spiritual issues and expressing an expectation of church involvement is a must. You can bet that teens know that their attendance is The Church The church also plays a key role in whether or not young adults stay plugged in after high school. A few of the church-related factors that contributed to teenagers remaining active in church include: Sermons relevant to their life as teenagers A worship style that was appealing A welcoming, non-judgmental environment Five or more adults making a significant investment in their lives; personally and spiritually Having regular responsibilities at church Students have much to learn about the true nature of worship, but they love to experience meaningful times of praise, prayer, and reflection. They need to see how the Bible is applicable to their everyday lives and sermons that demonstrate the relevance of Scripture to the choices they make moment by moment. KNOWN (Grades 7-12) Over the course of one year, students will study two different topics from each of the six areas of student spiritual development: lordship, disciplines, character, discernment, relationships, and influence. Leader Guide includes two-page, easy-to-use, basic teaching plans and a midweek talksheet for each session. Online you ll find FREE insights, teaching options, monthly parent meeting plan, and podcasts for leaders, parents, and students. Leader Guide 005121099 $6.50 per copy, per quarter Student Guide 005159803 $4.50 per quarter (includes 3 monthly issues) To order, visit www.lifeway.com, call 1.800.458.2772, or visit the LifeWay Christian Store serving you. RECONSIDER 7

The involvement of significant adults in the lives of teenagers also increases their likelihood of remaining connected to the church. Students need a web of caring adults around them that will support and mentor them as they mature into adulthood. These could be parents, Sunday school teachers, or church staff members. A possible solution here, that many miss, would be relationships with older adults. Reaching across the generations and establishing relationships with mentors and prayer supporters could play a significant role in the lives of students. For far too long, teenagers have been viewed as the church of tomorrow. The reality is that if they are not meaningfully involved in the full life and ministry of the church as young people, they are not likely to stick around. Students possess enormous gifts and talents and often the only place they get to exercise these abilities is in leadership roles at school. No wonder school related activities command such loyalty. The challenge for the church is to move beyond gift identification among students to the creation of (or freedom for students to create) opportunities for the exercise of their gifts. The philosophy of ministry to youth needs to change to one of ministry with youth. The Students The students ultimately get to choose whether or not they will be involved in a church as they become young adults. Parents, family members, and churches can do all the right things, and still teenagers can drop out of the church. Students also bear the responsibility for their own spiritual health. They can only live on the borrowed faith of their families and friends for so long. Beyond their conversion, they must be equipped to move to an ownership of their faith. An Important Question Student ministry has grown both in depth and breadth over the past several years. Programs, events, and resources abound, but spiritual results (from dropping baptism numbers to church dropouts) seem to be lacking. This leads to a very important question: As student ministry continues to mature, are we developing students, or student ministries? In other words, has student ministry become increasingly sophisticated at the expense of the spiritual transformation of students? How can this be remedied? The solution is not to find a better plan for student ministry, but to find a biblical model for student development. Living With Teenagers Monthly magazine offers plenty of help and hope for parents of teens from a Christian perspective. Living with Teenagers can help you guide parents through these sometime difficult parenting years. Here s what they ll get: Article for parents based on students KNOWN Sunday School topics Family discussion questions based on KNOWN article Hands-on instruction for issues parents face Unique insights into the inner world of teens Practical tips for raising godly teens 005075228 $4.65 per quarter (3 monthly issues) Indelible Parenting Keys to a Lasting Impression by Bob Bunn Leads parents through the biblical principles of spiritual leadership found in Deuteronomy 6. Designed for a small-group Bible study setting, but may also be used for individual study. Includes devotions and Family Time plans to help parents incorporate these principles into their weekly family life. Each session includes an introduction, an application emphasis, three devotions for reflection, articles, and a what s coming next preview of the next session. (4 sessions) Member Book 005104084 $7.95 Leader Guide 005116689 $9.95 To order, visit www.lifeway.com, call 1.800.458.2772, or visit the LifeWay Christian Store serving you.

ec Magazine (Grades 7-12) The newly redesigned ec helps students understand that faith isn t a one-time decision their relationship with Christ should affect every part of their lives: school, stress, acne, dating, the things they say, and the clothes they wear. ec magazine is for a student s whole life, because that s what God is concerned with everything. Devotions supplement and support the Life Focus curriculum. 005075081 $4.65 per quarter (3 monthly issues) Visit our blog at ecmagazine.blogspot.com To order, visit www.lifeway.com, call 1.800.458.2772, or visit the LifeWay Christian Store serving you. A Biblical Model Is there a biblical model and biblical principles that will: Ensure a balanced approach to student development? Operate through the two God-given institutions of the home and church? Allow students to grow as Jesus grew? Equip students to KNOW Jesus, OWN their faith, and make their faith KNOWN? KNOW Upward Development Jesus grew in favor with God OWN Inward Development Jesus grew in wisdom and stature. KNOWN Outward Development Jesus grew in favor with man. We believe the answer is yes! LifeWay Student Ministry has developed a strategy for ministry to students that is based on Luke 2:52 and the Sermon on the Mount, and is implemented through the home and the church. See model below. This model is now being used to guide the creation of resources, camps, and events that LifeWay produces for ministry with students and their families. Lordship Disciplines Character Discernment Relationships Influence Recognizing that God is the One who moves in the hearts of teens and young adults to draw them to Himself, focusing on the spiritual development of the students in our care can help to lay a solid foundation for continued spiritual growth as they mature into adulthood. Will you invest some time in the students in your home and church? RECONSIDER 9

LifeSpan A vision and plan for balanced spiritual development at each stage of life. The Challenge Churches are inundated with resource options on virtually every church-related issue. Whether it s Sunday School or other Bible study products, the options can seem like a giant smorgasbord. Many leaders are asked to simply select what looks good, often with no overall plan, long-term view, or consideration of balance. Even worse, they are left to piece together short-term study plans which may have no clear vision to offer participants the full counsel, teaching, instruction, and correction of God s Word. LifeWay s Commitment LifeWay has committed to equip the church with a vision and plan for balanced spiritual development at each stage of life: kids, students, and adults. We call it LifeSpan. And it s the basis for all of our resources. When you use LifeWay materials, you can be certain that within each phase of life, the basic (theologically sound) building blocks of spiritual growth are taught, and over the course of a lifetime, participants receive the whole counsel of God. Our resources have a much bigger purpose than spreading biblical knowledge. At every stage of life, knowledge comes with responsibilities: to obey what we have learned, to share it with others, and to serve one another through the gifts we ve been entrusted. LifeSpan was created to help church leaders accomplish these goals.

STUDENT MiNiSTry L I F E S P A N BIRTH 7TH GRADE 18 YEARS HEAVEN HEAR KNOW DO KNOW OWN KNOWN CONNECT GROW SERVE GO linear/prescriptive Learning occurs through ten prescriptive levels of biblical learning concepts that are taught in a very linear approach, providing the foundation for salvation and spiritual transformation. Preteen Transition linear/discovery Spiritual development occurs as students know God through Lordship and disciplines, own their faith through character and discernment, and make their faith known through relationships and influence. The process is linear allowing for discovery through experience. Young Adult Transition discovery/balanced/integrated Spiritual growth occurs incrementally and concurrently as adults interact with the 15 biblical concepts that impact their personal experiences and practical life situations. Learning should integrate connecting, growing, serving, and going in balanced spiritual development. www.lifeway.com/kidspromise www.lifeway.com/studentstrategy www.lifeway.com/adultstrategy Linear Prescriptive Discovery Integrated Practical

LifeWay s Research: Sunday school STATS 83% of African-Americans describe themselves as Christian*. 37% of Christians say they have made a serious attempt to discover God s will for their lives. 36% of Christians say they try to put God first in reference to their values and priorities. I want stability for my family, discipline in doctrine for my children and peace in my heart for myself anonymous church member when asked What are the most important things you would like to get out of going to church? RECONSIDER 12 *Unless otherwise noted, all data is from LifeWay s primary research.

The Simple Church revolution is here. Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger discovered the revolution through an extensive research project that is challenging church leaders to simplify. Their findings are reported in the book Simple Church: Returning to God s Process for Making Disciples. In general, the vibrant churches in the study are much more simple than churches that are struggling and anemic. Based on the research, church leaders are encouraged to design a clear process, move people through it, align all ministries around it, and eliminate everything that gets in the way. So what does Sunday School look like in a Simple Church? Where does it fit? Here is a condensed version of an article I wrote with Eric Geiger: A p p l y i n g t h e Simple CHURCH By David Francis In phase one of the Simple Church research, Rainer and Geiger surveyed 400 Southern Baptist churches identified as vibrant because of their consistent growth, and a like number of comparison, or complex churches. About half responded. I just completed a secondary project around the 400 vibrant Southern Baptist churches to determine if they operated a Sunday School or some other small group ministry. Based on information from 376 (94 percent) of those churches, 87.5 percent operate Sunday School - or a functionally comparable ministry by a different name - on campus, while 12.5 percent primarily use off campus small groups to assimilate people. Fifty-three percent of the vibrant churches used only the words Sunday School to describe the program, while 26 percent used terms like Bible Study, Bible Fellowships, LIFE Groups or other terms, and 8 percent used Sunday School together with another term. RECONSIDER 13

Clarity, Movement, Alignment and Focus So almost 9 in 10 of the simple churches in phase one of the research have a Sunday School, but so do the complex and struggling churches! While both groups tend to offer Sunday School with similar content, their similarities end there. The program is essentially the same, but simple and complex churches differ greatly in how they utilize Sunday School. These differences are significant and set apart simple churches from complex churches. Clarity: The simple churches know exactly where Sunday School fits in their process. Movement: The simple churches intentionally move people to Sunday School. Alignment and Focus: The simple churches that offer Sunday School focus more on Sunday School than the complex churches who offer Sunday School. An Essential Program Sunday School plays a more vital role in the simple churches than it does in the complex and struggling churches. This is a big statement, but it makes perfect sense. In the simple churches, Sunday School is aligned as an essential program in their process. These churches have made the difficult decision to cut other programs that fall outside of their process. Sunday School has more prominence as one of few key programs. In the complex and struggling churches, Sunday School is just one of many programs. It does not get adequate focus because attention and energy are divided among so many things. Here is the bottom line - the elevator conversation : According to the research, you should know where Sunday school fits in your process, move people to Sunday School, and give it focused attention as an essential program in your process. YOU: Connect. Grow. Serve. Go! Life with God This flexible quarterly resource with a magazine look and feel offers biblically based, culturally relevant lessons to help your adult members connect, grow, serve, and ultimately be engaged in impacting the world for God. YOU offers weekly Bible study for leaders and learners, devotionals, teaching plans, and articles on hot topics, missions, and more. Visit the website at www.lifeway.com/you 005030553 $3.50 per copy, per quarter Order one per adult, teacher, and substitute, plus extras for visitors and outreach. To order, visit www.lifeway.com, call 1.800.458.2772, or visit the LifeWay Christian Store serving you.

What exactly should church leaders do with Sunday School in light of the Simple Church revolution? Clearly define the simple process God has for your church. Place Sunday School as the essential program for one aspect of your process. In most simple churches with Sunday School, it is step two in the disciple-making process. What could be more simple than being able to accomplish step one (worship) and step two (assimilation and interactive Bible study) with every member of the family on one trip to the church? Because of facility or parking constraints, not all churches can do this. Those that can, however, can see a very high percentage of worship attenders moving to the next step of discipleship. Move people from your worship services to Sunday School groups. Funnel special emphases through your Sunday School. Prayerfully and carefully begin to eliminate non-essential programs. Do this prayerfully and carefully. As mentioned in the book, Become simple as fast as you can, but not faster. This is the body of Christ, not just an organization. These are real people in your church, not just pawns in a strategy. Simple churches that have Sunday School use it strategically. Complex churches that have Sunday School are just putting on a program. David Francis is director of Sunday School at LifeWay Christian Resources, Nashville, Tennessee. How is your church using Sunday School? The Call to Follow Christ : Six Disciplines for New and Growing Believers by Claude King This foundational discipleship resource helps new and growing believers understand and begin implementing six disciplines into their daily lives. Book includes a music CD by Damaris Carbaugh with seven songs corresponding to the weekly topics. Daily, interactive devotionals average 10 to 15 minutes. One week is devoted to each of the six disciplines. Suggestions for small-group sessions and one-to-one mentoring are included. (7 sessions) Member Book 001303666 $9.95 To order, visit www.lifeway.com, call 1.800.458.2772, or visit the LifeWay Christian Store serving you. RECONSIDER 15

Keep Getting Reconsider: Subscribe to our Black Church Life e-newsletter at www.lifeway.com/blackchurchlife and receive regular updates and insights for your ministry. Research on Youth Research on Sunday School Applying the Simple Church LifeWay Christian Resources One LifeWay Plaza Nashville, TN 37234 RECONSIDER 16