Subscribe to BlogLost in Transition
In one of my recent doctoral seminars at Southwestern Seminary we were charged with the task of helping to rewrite the curriculum for the Masters-level ‘Student Development’ course. My writing contribution was to be on the topic of adolescent transitions with priority given to adolescents (teenagers) transitioning into adulthood. I have included the full text of my paper. Your feedback and interaction is requested. I hope that the research in the paper helps the church to better minister to adolescents and emerging adults as they navigate the winding path to adulthood.
Lost in Transition: The Adolescent’s Journey to Adulthood (PDF)
Imagine the possibilities if churches and families better prepared teenagers for the experiences of young adulthood. Imagine the possibilities if our congregations integrated young people into every facet of the church from decision-making committees to service teams. Emerging adults would likely feel more a part of the greater Body of Christ rather than experiencing forced separation from age-segregated ministries with no other church ministry to transition into. Imagine the possibilities if students truly constructed their own Biblical belief system rather than merely tagging to (faith tagging) their friends’, parents’, or church’s. Imagine the possibilities if today’s church would better engage the use of rites of passage in helping today’s adolescent transition into adulthood rather than extending childhood or adolescence.
Our Wilderness Journey
A couple of weeks ago I had the great privilege of meeting with a number of pastors about the priority of the family in the overall ministry of the church. Particular emphasis was given to the student ministry area of the church. During my preparation, I did an analysis over the abysmal youth baptism trends in my denomination. You can see the most recent eight year analysis of recorded baptisms for 17 years old and younger here. A historical look at recorded baptisms in my denomination can be found here. Though such baptism stats are appalling and very depressing, such statistics bother me more when compared to the “youth” population of the United States.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the estimated population of those under the age of 18 is nearly 74 million. A historical look at “youth” population data in the U.S. since 1970 can be found here. According to my number crunching, in 2000, recorded new converts under the age of 18 in Southern Baptist life amounted to only 0.31% of the total U.S. youth population. According to 2008 estimates, corresponding records only amounted to 0.25% of the total U.S. youth population.
I understand that this analysis is limited to only those reporting baptism statistics in one denomination (though this denomination is the largest evangelical denomination in the U.S.). I also understand that the comparison between the Census data and the baptism data does not account for those that are already believers. For the sake of argument on the aforementioned admission, consider a hypothetical analysis that assumed 5%, or nearly 3.7 million, of the youth population were believers. This hypothetical assumption added to the SBC new converts would still equal less than 6% of the total youth population. Something is amiss in our churches let alone our student ministries.
In recent years, authors and researchers have continually brought to mind the abandonment of this generation of students. I would agree with such thinking, but I would add that the church has also abandoned (through replacement) this generation of parents as well. The church has too easily taken the mandate of impressing spiritual truth into the lives of children away from the family. Likewise, the family has to easily relinquished responsibility of being the primary vehicle through-which spiritual truth is transferred from generation to generation. Could our lack of obedience, both as the church and as parents or family leaders, have led to the current relative ineffectiveness of reaching this younger generation for Christ? Could the struggles that we are dealing with today be our wilderness journey?
Imagine what the church would be if parents took back the responsibility of passing down spiritual truth and practices to their children. Imagine what the church would be if student ministers trusted parents to pass down spiritual truth to their own children. Imagine what the church would be if the student minister could focus the majority of his/her efforts on equipping parents to pass down spiritual truth which would in turn allow him/her to preach the Gospel clearly to lost students and their families. Imagine what today’s society would be if the church began affecting change on the culture rather than the culture affecting change on the church. Oh the possibilities…