Young People - Do We Want Them?

I like reading studies, however insufferable they can be at times. Still, I find this one rather relevant to the condition of the mainline church. I hear these myths often about young people leaving the church. I hear them even from people who have worked with young adults for many years and should know better. The troubling thing, for me, is that we don't seem to be able to do anything about these realities. I've known these myths have existed for years; I've even preached on some of them over the years. Now, I should say, in full disclosure, that I pastor in a church that has a remarkably large number of young people involved. I am also in a community that has an above average number of  young people in it. Still, I feel like even in Guymon we are ignoring realities. Ten years from now, will there be anyone under 40 who cares about the Church? Or under 50 for that matter? Anyway, the link to the study I'm going on about is below.

http://www.barna.org/teens-next-gen-articles/534-five-myths-about-young-adult-church-dropouts


Also, I've been reflecting on a few things Lovett Weems has said. Get this:

-Giving in the United Mthodist Church (in the US) has reached a plateau and is now declining

-34,000 congregations and $6.5 billion in annual giving (in the US); yet we cannot net even 1 new disciple in a year

-Clergy as a whole are less concerned about reaching young adults than the laity as a whole are

-Laity as a whole are unwilling to make the changes to worship and budgets required to attract these young adults

This is quite a situation. Still, I am not one of those doom-and-gloom types. Nor am I one who thinks we need to just get the right program in place or listen to the right church growth guru or built a tower to heaven in order to turn the ship around. I've been reading Kenneth Collins' book John Wesley: A Theological Journey. It's pretty much a standard historical account, but I always find tidbits worth remembering. He recounts Samuel Wesley's advice to his son when John decided to seek Orders with the Church of England. Samuel wrote to John and told him that all of his goals and activities in ministry should grow out of three main points. "The glory of God, the service of His Church, and the edification and salvation of our neighbor." That should be John's motivation for ministry, according to his father.

I wonder what the church would look like if clergy ran their course in ministry with those three points always firmly in mind. It really isn't about me, after all. It's not about my future appointments, even (I know what future I have in God, and that is enough). It's about glorifying God, serving the Church, and shepherding people into salvation.

With this in mind and recognizing the myths of young adult dropouts, I can't help but think that the only think keeping the Church from entering a new day in America is...well...us. That is a sin I am willing to coffess. I hope others would coffess it as well.