Hey Parents!!
Thank you so much for taking the time to check out Grace Youth on our website. An even bigger thank you for trusting the youth team with your students. None of us have raised a teenager like you are currently doing, but we have over 20 years of combined experience pouring into teens.
The teenage years are very challenging because it is a huge discovery time in a persons life. Let’s look at some scary statistics and see why I think it is VITAL that you and I work together to reveal the truth of God’s Word and set our students on the right path.
- According to recent research somewhere between 70 and 88 percent of Christian teenagers are leaving the church by their second year in college (Voddie Baucham, Family Driven Faith, 10).
- Over 80% of teens who claim to be “born-again” do not believe in the existence of absolute truth (Baucham, 11).
- A recent Barna survey focused on finding out how teens beliefs differ from their parents found that:
- 63% don’t believe Jesus is the Son of the one true God
- 58% believe all faiths teach equally valid truths.
- 51% don’t believe Jesus rose from the dead.
- 65% don’t believe Satan is a real entity.
- 68% don’t believe the Holy Spirit is a real entity (Steve Wright, Rethink: Is Student Ministry Working?, 34). The vast majority of those polled claimed that they and their parents were Christians. It is clear that these statistics do not square up with John 14:6 where Jesus says, “I am the way the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through me.” The sad reality today is that most of the people in our churches, especially our youth, do not possess a biblical worldview, so that when they get to college they are not prepared to defend the faith as they may or may not even believe defending they faith is necessary. It is clear that youth ministry needs to change!
- In a recent survey of parents by the Barna Group, it was found that the number one goal parents have for their children is that their children would get a good education (Baucham, 19). Only half as many parents considered their children’s having a relationship with Jesus Christ as important as their child’s education.
- Another recent study focused on college freshman found that:
- Parents play an extremely important role in developing the religious attitudes and practices of their offspring.
- Parents of students who did not leave the church emphasized religion twice as much as those who students who left the church.
- Students who stayed in church through college said that the first thing they do when they have doubts or questions was to talk to their parents and then read their Bibles (Wright, 48-49).
Your role is so important in showing students how to maintain a life-long relationship with God. My goal is to partner with that by providing dynamic worship, relevant messages, and genuine relationships.
I look forward to continuing on this journey together.
Pastor Josh Ring
Youth Director
918.845.1086