Why Mission is Only Half the Answer

1/12/23

Over the last few years, there has been a corrective occurring in our churches, kids' ministries and youth ministries. More and more I’m hearing about evangelism being put back on the agenda and discussion around strategies for mission and how to increase “mission heat”.

That makes my heart glad because young people need to know Jesus. Without him they are lost!

And it’s because young people need to know Jesus that we need another corrective in our ministry to young people.

In recent decades in the Western Church, young people have been dropping out of faith. Here are the stats…

·        In America, 40-50%[1] of previously professing young people have stopped attending church.

·        In the UK, there has been 20% decline in the number of 0-16s in Anglican churches in the last 5 years. 

·        In Australia, 35% of the children of Sydney Anglican church attenders aged 15 and over, still living at home no longer attend any church.[2]

We need to keep leaning into the mission corrective of recent years. Long may it last!

The other corrective we need

But another corrective is just as crucial.

Our ministry to young people needs a renewed focus on lifelong faith retention.

And that’s because Lifelong faith retention is the back end of mission

Mission to young people can only ever be as effective as the retention of their faith for life. The joy we experience at a young person professing faith is ultimately misplaced, if that young person drops out of faith at the end of high school. Equally, when a young person has faith for life, that joy is only a reflection of the kind of joy we’ll have seeing them persevere to the last day. As Paul says to the Thessalonians, “For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you?” (1 Thess alonians 2:19)

The eternal fate of the young people we love and care for in our families, children’s and youth ministries is ultimately up to the Lord. But just as Paul, “Made every effort to see…” the Thessalonians, there are things that we can do to disciple young people to lasting faith.

1)   Make “sending” a key metric in your youth ministry.

I recently met with a youth minister who had returned from Reach Australia Conference with an insightful idea: People only leave our churches one of two ways. They are either lost or sent. When we look at the statistics concerning young people who are lost to faith, it makes the idea of sending young people from youth ministry more important – either to other churches and ministries or into the next phase of full membership in the local expression of the body of Christ they are currently part of.

Because we measure what we value, this youth minister made the call that it was crucial to measure the number of young people being sent from youth ministry and reimagine his ministry around “sending” goals.

2)  Invite young people into a substantial faith community

Over the last decade, research into faith retention in young people has consistently shown that a faith landscape with substance is a key factor in young people sticking with Jesus.

You Lost Me (2011) argues that young people disconnect with church because of shallow discipleship. Growing Young (2015) says churches where young people thrive in faith, “Take Jesus’ message seriously”. Faith for Exiles (2019) holds that young people who have resilient faith “experience intimacy with Jesus”.

Churches and families that facilitate and nurture a faith landscape that is rich, deep, coherent, liveable and willing to face the faith challenges of the day with a Jesus centred answer provide the foundation for a thriving faith that lasts.

But churches that do the following are more likely to lose young people post high school…

·        Bring young people in with cultural relevance, vibes, prizes or coolness.

·        Keep things light to appeal to young people.

·        Are not up-front about their key purpose to make and grow disciples.

To be clear, a substantial faith landscape doesn’t mean a ban on fun or only being serious. But young people don’t need or want a shallow faith community. They need and want substantial faith landscape with the true gravity of the good news of the Lord Jesus.

How can we provide a substantial faith landscape for young people? Here are two ideas:

Encourage Young People to Participate and Serve

Chap Clark observes that where young people are empowered to meaningfully, “Participate and contribute to the life of the body”, it powerfully communicates that they are, “Welcome and are vital members of a [church] community”, making them more likely to remain connected to a faith community for the long term. 

In line with this, we can:

·        Enable young people to be active participants in youth ministry, not passive consumers (download a resource here).

·        Give young people opportunities to serve both within their age specific programs and in other ways in the church.

Start Your Program with a Purpose Statement

Most ministries I visit have a time near the beginning of the program where young people gather and everyone is welcomed into the program. Having a clear articulation of the groups purpose at this time ensures that young people know exactly why your group exists and what to expect while they are there.

“At X youth, we love to see people become wholehearted disciples of Jesus”

When something like this is said regularly it helps set the tone of a group as a substantial faith community.

3) Facilitate the 5:1 Ratio

In the book Sticky Faith, Kara Powell and Chap Clark say that the closest thing to a ‘silver bullet’ for young people retaining their faith after high school is intergenerational relationships in church (as they talk about in this podcast). When young people have meaningful discipleship relationships with people of varying ages in the body of Christ, they are more likely to have long lasting and mature faith.

Youth Leaders, band leaders, other people on the AV team, family and friends are just some of the people that could be part of your young peoples’ “5:1 team”.

Of course, when young people serve with others, this is one of the best ways to help young people to build their 5:1 team.

4) Partner With Parents

Christian Smith and Amy Adamczyk found in extensive research presented in the book, Handing Down the Faith (2021), that the number one factor in young people continuing in the faith of their parents was when families talked about faith at home.

These “God Conversations” were…

·        Ad Hoc

·        Impromptu

·        Informal

 Smith and Adamczyk speculate that God conversations at home during the week are a “powerful signal to children of religion's personal importance” and a way of making faith an essential part of life, not just an optional add-on expressed occasionally (e.g. on a Sunday). In short, “God conversations” show the importance, coherency and relevance of faith.

While it is not possible to make these conversations happen in young people's homes, we can, in our ministries, help to facilitate them by…

·        Communicating the importance of “God conversations” to parents.

·        Communicating regularly with the home about what’s happening in the content and program.

·        Modelling “God conversations” with both parents and youth during informal times in your ministry programs.

·        Fostering genuine two-way partnership and conversation between the ministry and parents.

·        Fostering relationships between individual parents and individual leaders.

Young people need to know Jesus. Without him they are lost! Let’s add a lifelong faith retention focus to our mission corrective.

What is your next step in helping young people stick with Jesus?

[1] Growing Young (2016) p 17

[2] Diocese of Sydney, NCLS 2011, 2016, 2021