Why You Must Not Completely Segregate the Youth in Your Church

JULY 3, 2014

This following is an excerpt of an article by Drew Dyck.  Excellent insight into a potential danger in youth ministry, and implies the importance of integrating the youth into the services and life of the church, and the importance of the family attending worship together, or at least all being in the same worship service.  The body of Christ is for all ages.

Foster Intergenerational Relationships

I’ve read virtually all of the books on Millennials and the church, and I’ve added my own thoughts in Generation Ex-Christian. If there’s one lesson to take away from this corpus of literature, it’s this: intergenerational relationships are crucial. The number one predictive factor as to whether or not a young Christian will retain his or her faith is whether that person has a meaningful relationship with an older Christian.

We’re surprised when even our most ardent young people walk away, but we shouldn’t be. If they didn’t have relationships with older Christians in the congregation, in all likelihood, they’re gone. When they age out of youth group, they age out of the church. Churches must find ways to pair older Christians with teens and to engage Millennials outside the church (many of whom are starving for mentors).

The number one predictive factor as to whether or not a young Christian will retain his or her faith is whether that person has a meaningful relationship with an older Christian.

For the complete article here is the link:

 http://aspengroup.com/blog/millennials-need-a-bigger-god-not-a-hipper-pastor