A church leader told me the story of James, a young man who had grown up in his church, going through all their groups, attending regularly. James headed off to Uni with suggestions of churches to try there, his home church satisfied that they had fulfilled their role.
Each holiday James came home having not got involved in a church. He had started going to the student group but then drifted away. The church leader admitted feeling angry with James for not playing his part, but he had to think again because he had seen this pattern repeated in the lives of several other young adults leaving his church. He concluded that James had never actually been part of the church. James knew how to be part of a church age group, being taught, being cared for, and hanging out with his peers, but he did not know how to do church – for example, by serving and by being in fellowship with people across generations.
Research has found that two thirds of those who were active in their church during secondary school no longer remained in a church aged 18–22. Most strikingly, 71% of those who dropped out did not plan on doing so. It just happened. In practical terms, if you ask ten church-going 17- and 18-year-olds if they plan to still be attending church in three years time, eight will say they will be (and they believe it). If you track those ten young people through, you will find that only three are.
