Denominational Leaders Absent from the Youth Transition Problem
As youth pastors and senior pastors of campus ministries, church networks, and parachurch networks met in Orlanda, Fla., denominational leaders, for whom the two-day meeting was specifically convened, were not present.
ORLANDO, Fla. – A growing network of leaders met Thursday in Orlando, Fla., for the second day of a conference to address the issues of youth fallout.
But as youth pastors and senior pastors of campus ministries, church networks, and parachurch networks met at the table at the Crowne Plaza Orlando Airport, denominational leaders, for whom the two-day meeting was specifically convened, were not present.
"Every denominational leader thinks they are taking an initiative because they told their youth worker," commented Christian apologist Josh McDowell.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
But he said there can be no change if the top decision makers are not involved.
"We are right now undermining what they're doing," McDowell stated.
The conference, convened by Mission America (MA) and the National Network of Youth Ministries (NNYM), sought to present the facts and figures of the youth fallout to denominational leaders after discovering that a high percentage of youths are lost the first week of college. Research studies have found that a range of 69-94 percent of Christian youth in America leave the church after entering college.
Though denominational leaders were represented by other people, not one actually came.
"We need to get them to the table," said Mission America Chairperson Paul Cedar. But the former denominational leader of the Evangelical Free Church of America also said he understands they have a demanding workload.
To address the problem, Jeff Schadt, a major organizer of the two-day Orlando convention, founded Ministry Edge – a new ministry whose goal is to create a dynamic online community of students helping one another enjoy their college experience without compromise. He garnered the support of the MA and NNYM – two of the nation’s largest networks of Christians.
College and high school ministers also took action against the alarming statistics, giving birth to the Youth Transition Network in 2004 in an effort to change the figures.
Though none of the invited denominational leaders were present, Jim Dorsey, evangelism coordinator of the Church of the Nazarene, said that it's important to use the people who do come – those who the denominational leaders send to represent them.
Schadt, meanwhile, said he is confident that the important leaders will get onboard.
"There is a growing coalition of national leaders, taking awareness and the issue of the loss of the youth seriously."
While Bill Tell, U.S. Deputy Director of the Navigators agreed to the importance of top leadership involvement, he also pointed out the importance of work at the grassroots level.
“We're dealing with the growth of the kingdom. In my mind, the kingdom grows from the bottom up, not from the top down,” he said. “You have to blend [the two forces].”
Having started from the bottom, the Youth Transition Network is in the process of finishing a new website, www.liveabove.com, which allows students to search for godly roommates, find campus ministries, and get plugged into a network of people before arriving on campus, so that students can make the transition from high school to college with their faith intact.
