The world that I live inside, the world of youth ministry is currently consumed with a very engaging conversation that centers on some current research that suggests that when students graduate from high school they are also graduating from their faith. There are several studies devoted to this issue and while they haven’t agreed on a clear number; Even the most conservative research suggests that 40% of students who regularly attend church during their high school years are no longer following Christ after their first year of college. Of the 40% that drift from their faith, 80% of those students intended to stick with their faith.
If one of our goals it to bridge students from student ministry into the church body as a whole, there must be a bridge. In order to address this growing trend and to more effectively develop spiritual champions who will love Christ and His Church for life, we’re making two significant changes to Sunday morning Fusion.
Sunday Serve
One Sunday a month we’ll be changing Fusion, our Sunday morning program, and venturing out into the church to serve in West Side.
We’ll be traveling in a few different directions to supply our students with the chance to serve where they are interested. Our service mornings will now contain more freedom, flexibility, and responsibility for students. We want to see our students serve in Family ministry, the Fireside Café, in Adult Worship; anywhere they feel passionate about serving. This provides students with an opportunity to develop a love for Christ and his larger church, to develop a passion to serve, and integrate into a church that doesn’t circulate around them. Maybe best of all, it allows them to serve with some amazing adults who can demonstrate what it looks like to love your church and serve in it.
Adult Worship Attendance
Secondly, we’ll plan to attend the 11:30 service together on a monthly basis. Hopefully, many of your students already attend adult worship but we’ve found that nearly half of kids don’t. This has the potential to be a great shift in focus for our students. Attending the fourth service allows students to see the larger church in action, to join in with the larger mission of the church. We want to teach students how to be part of a church, not just part of youth group.
Our target to roll this transition out is in September. We hope that you’ll partner with us as we move our High School program closer to creating students with a lifelong love for service and worship. If you have any questions, let me know and I’d be happy to connect with you.
