Reaching high school boys

Our Faith Church Student Ministry team in Kent is working to engage our high school boys in effective ministry. We met earlier this week to discuss activities to build relationships and develop a lifelong spiritual foundation for our boys.  

We want to keep our boys!

We know a lot of youth, boys and girls, leave the church during and after high school. The statistics are frightening.  Some return. Here is one of many articles, this one by George Barna, on this huge challenge:  Teens are leaving the church



These are the most recent and most cited studies from one website by Brett Kunkle in 2009:

• 88%:  The Southern Baptist Convention's Family Life Council study in 2002 (unfortunately, I can't find the actual study and methodology)
• 70%:  LifeWay Research study in 2007 (LifeWay also found only 35% eventually return)
• 66%:  Assembly of God study (again, I can't find the actual study, only references here and there)
• 61%:  "Barna study in 2006 -- "Most Twentysomethings Put Christianity on the Shelf..."

The LifeWay and Barna studies include research details.  I’m no sociologist but from what I can tell, their methodology seems sounds. 
Here are some related studies: 

• "Spirituality in Higher Education":  The Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA found that 52% of college students reported frequent church attendance the year before they entered college but only 29% continued frequent church attendance by their junior year. 
• College Transition Project:  The Fuller Youth Institute's current data seems "to suggest that about 40-50% of students in youth groups struggle in their faith after graduation."
• "The Religiosity Cycle":  A 2002 Gallup Poll study found that church attendance “drops during the teen and young adult years.”

Conclusion: It's safe to conclude the church is losing a signficant portion of its young people for some period of time.  Even if we take Barna's lower numbers and then cut 10% off to be extra conservative, we're still talking about losing half of our young people.

Pastor Aaron at baptismal service with boys

Our youth pastor, Aaron, is focused on  "teaching them to observe (or obey) all that I commanded you." 

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”  
Matthew 28:19-20
 

Are our boys disciples? Are they identified with Christ? What does their spiritual development look like as teen-agers? How can we walk alongside them to next levels, this year?

We did a Monday night Bible study with sharing and prayer, most of last year with 10-12 solid participants. I saw how active they wanted to be and so we did several activities with them.  I even let them run around the elementary school playground as part of what we did.  They ran all around the church.  Once they accidentally broke a window.  Boys are active, some are really active. 

Many others did not participate.  Many don't come and don't want to come and sit.  We are looking at groups of three with each adult leader and grow each group from there.
 
We want to expand and multiply by reaching the other "20," and their friends. One of our considerations is getting the Dads involved, as much as possible.  Many of our regular church men do not read their Bibles nor see it as relevant, either.

I want to lead a regular consistent teaching that gets my group exposed to the Biblical text with my own heart and method that moves to engagement, personal application...yes, obedience. I want to get them really active in Kingdom activity.



I am praying for:

• Pastor Aaron and our team of adult leaders
• The dads
• The boys the Lord will give each of the leaders
• The work of the Spirit to save and mature us all
• The relationships we develop  
• The activities the Lord shows us
• The teaching and methods He Himself gives us