There are some who wonder if our church is crying wolf when we warn of the faithlessness in the youth of America. How I wish we were wrong. Denomination upon denomination is finding the same thing – youth are leaving the church in droves. It is time to stop ignoring this issue and pray for wisdom in how to address this. Here’s a excerpt from a recent study documenting this disturbing trend…

Survey: Churches Losing Youths Long Before College

The Bible calls the Church “the Body of Christ.” Today, that body is bleeding profusely, says a Christian author and sought-out speaker.

“The next generation of believers is draining from the churches, and it causes me great personal and professional concern,” said Ken Ham, founder and president of Answers in Genesis and a Young Earth creationist.

Hoping to shed light on what he believes is a monumental problem, Ham enlisted the services of America’s Research Group to study why young people were leaving. The results, published in Already Gone, will shake many churches to their very core, Ham states in the new book.

While previous surveys have shown that Christian students tend to quit church during their college years, the data collected by ARG found that most of them were already gone in middle school and high school.

According to ARG’s survey, 95 percent of 20- to 29-year-old evangelicals attended church regularly during their elementary and middle school years. Only 55 percent went to church during high school. And by college, only 11 percent were still attending church.

“They’re sitting in our churches right now … and they’re already gone,” Ham said during a “State of the Nation” address last week.

To read the rest of the article, go here

 Pastor – what are YOU doing to address this tragedy?