Statistics on Church Dropouts--Daniel Wiginton

Statistics and Information on Church Dropouts, Ages 18-22*

Who drops out?

·        80% of teenagers who attend church plan to continue attending after graduating.

·        70% of teenagers who attend church drop out between ages 18-22.

·        71% of those who drop out aren’t planning on it before they graduate.

·        62% of those who plan to stay end up dropping out anyway.

·        The numbers are the same for those who go to college and those who do not.

Top Reasons Given for Dropping Out of Church by People Ages 18-22

1.      Simply wanted a break from church.

2.      Church members seemed judgmental or hypocritical.

3.      Moved to college and stopped attending church.

4.      Work responsibilities prevented me from attending.

5.      Moved too far away from the church to continue attending.

6.      Became too busy though still wanted to attend.

7.      Didn’t feel connected to the people in my church.

8.      Disagreed with the church’s stance on political or social issues.

9.      Chose to spend more time with friends outside the church.

10. Was only going to church to please others.

11. Wanted to make life decisions not accepted by the church.

12. Disagreed with the church’s teachings about God.

13. Was unsure of the reasons behind my faith.

14. Family and/or home responsibilities prevented me from attending.

15. Lost touch with my churchgoing friends.

16. Other activities/scheduling conflicts prevented me from attending church.

17. No longer wanted to identify myself as a Christian.

18. Stopped believing in God.

How plugged in were these people after they graduated?

·        Of those who attend only the worship service, 16% are still in church after 5 years.

·        Of those who attend worship and a small group, 83% are still in church after 5 years.

Conclusions: Most youth group graduates in America simply don’t value church enough to stick with it.  Of these, most are probably unsaved (1 John 2:19).  Some reject Christ altogether, while many others have a false assurance of salvation based on previous religious experience. A small number are saved but do not understand the biblical importance of church.  The best tools to combat this trend are the gospel of Jesus Christ and biblical teaching on God’s love for the church.

*From Essential Church? Reclaiming a Generation of Dropouts by Thom and Sam Rainer

What to Look For in a Church--Daniel Wiginton

What to Look For In a Church

Most important

Does the church preach the saving gospel of Jesus Christ?

-A church must believe the essential teachings of the Christian faith, or else it is not a church.

-Go to a church where no one will have a hard time finding out how to be saved.

Extremely important

Is the Bible the church’s source of authority?

- Human reason, tradition, religious experience, and other things need to rank lower than the Bible when it comes to deciding what is true.

Very Important

Does the pastor preach the Bible?

-There’s a difference between preaching the Bible’s message and preaching your own message with Bible verses in it.

Important

Are the church’s beliefs about baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and church leadership what the Bible teaches?

-For example, if you believe that Baptists do these things the way the Bible teaches, then you would not be a good fit in a Methodist church.

Also important

Can you see yourself actively serving in the church?

-You need to serve, not just attend.

-Be careful not to look for ways that you think you deserve to serve (like teaching).  Serving means having a humble willingness to do anything that is needed.

-If possible, go to a church that is located within 25 minutes of where you live.  You’re not likely to get involved in serving if it is farther than that.

Worth looking into

What are the church’s beliefs about other things?

-These aren’t necessarily deal-breakers, but you might want to find these things out before you decide on a church.  Some examples are predestination and the end times.

NOT Important

Musical style

-You’re not going to fool God with the excuse that you “can’t worship” if you you’re not used to the style of music.  If Job could worship God while he was finding out his family was dead, then you can worship while weird music plays.

Whether or not it “feels like” your home church

It probably won’t.

Whether or not the people at the church are similar to you in age, race, income, or life situation

-One of the things that God values most about the church is that it brings people together based on their faith in Christ even when they might have nothing else in common (Eph 2:11-22; Gal 3:29).