"He is the shepherd who will risk his life to save the one straying sheep." (Luke 15:4) 

In a recent Gallop Poll, one third of all adults surveyed reported a significant faith change between ages 16-30. Two-thirds had no significant change. The average age was 28. No reason was given. Age 28 is young adult.

In the last decade, out of the 75% of Lutherans who left the church, only 20% came back. There was an average of 10,000 young adults leaving each year. Obviously, it’s not a revolving back door.

Though it didn’t surprise me, it still stung, when I read the statistics released by the North American Division a few years ago. While we had significant increases in church growth, there were alarming decreases in church attendance. Many, if not the majority, were young adults.

One must ask the question, why? That is unless you are comfortable with your head sticking in the sand. Some of the reasons are:

* Lack of spiritual support
* No significant relationships developed
* Church is boring and predictable
* Witnessed dishonesty and racism while growing up
* Hypocrisy observed in the lives of Christians at their church
* Parents didn’t model Christianity

James Westerhof, in his book, "Will Our Children Have Faith?," describes the journey of faith development. These are the four styles:

Experienced Faith - Warm fuzzies one receives at Bible conferences, retreats, Sabbath Schools, etc.

Affiliative Faith - I’m a Baptist, Lutheran, Seventh-day Adventist, etc. You identify your faith with a group. That’s OK, but not enough.

Searching Faith - This stage threatens many churches and leaders who only deal with the "what" questions. Young adults ask why?, and how? Often the answers given are inadequate, and if they don’t agree they are ignored. Worse yet, branded. 

Owned Faith - The final stage of faith development is to Own. One owns their faith. It’s not the pastors, teachers, parents or friends. It’s theirs.

Now, compare those stages with Peter Benson’s observations from Search Institute. Young adults stay with, come back to, or find a spiritual home with churches who do the following:

1. Place a high premium on active nurturing. Felt needs are listened to. Integrity relationships are developed.

2. Emphasis placed on developing thinking skills. A safe environment is created for questions to be asked. The whys and hows are addressed.

3. Creative and meaningful worship experiences are a high priority. Ownership is encouraged. Risks are taken. Relevancy is continually a target.

4. Creative service opportunities are developed. Training, equipping and sharing one’s experience with God is encouraged.

I have watched a few churches in my conference do these things. They have been criticized, at times negatively branded, as well as their leaders. They have taken risks. The results? A significant number of young adults have found a home. They are not just given a piece of the pie. Wonder of wonders, they are trusted in the baking process.

Thank you Jesus for taking risks!

At the time this article was written, Bill Crofton was Youth Director for the Florida Conference, Winter Park, Florida.