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Weekly Resources, Ideas and Articles from The Source for Youth Ministry Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Yearbooks have been signed, and caps and gowns have been stored away as keepsake memorabilia of the seemingly invincible era of life known as high school. But as these grads leave home for college, many parents and youth workers wonder if they will leave their faith, as well. The College Life Every youth worker knows that high school graduation means at least two things: parties...and the potential for college freshmen to wander from the church, and possibly even their faith. Many of us place the blame for this reality on the "evils" of college; secular philosophies, alcohol-saturated parties, coed roommates, absence of parents, etc. But research from the University of Texas suggests that attending college is actually good for a teenager's residual faith commitments! What?! According to their study, an overwhelming majority of young people, 86% of them, retain their religious affiliation during their college years. In other words, these students enter college as Christians, and more importantly, leave as Christians! That's good news. Here's more: (82%) of faith-professing college students actually maintain their level of commitment to their faith. These students find a church on campus, or close by, and might even connect with their denomination's campus ministry. Their findings revealed even more surprising data: kids who don't attend college often have the highest rate of decline in church attendance. 76% of high school grads who take a pass on college also take a pass on church. This same group of teens also led the way in what the study called "diminished importance placed on religion" and "disaffiliation from religion." If college isn't the "bad guy," what is? We all agree that something is luring them away from the faith. Their absence from church is just as noticeable as their absence from that 8:00am Chem Lab on Monday mornings! Maybe a closer look at our high school graduates' faith will be helpful in determining why they disappear from the church like a 19 year old freshman does when the cops raid the frat parties. What They Believe A report by UCLA offers us a snapshot of the faith most "Christian" high school grads pack up and take to college with them. They found that many high school grads who head off to college are extremely interested in spiritual matters. As a matter of fact...
THE SOURCE PODCAST: Episode #16 (5/31/2008) Listen to it now for free on iTunes! (CLICK HERE) Or, if you don't have iTunes already... jump on Apple's web page for a free download, then click on our podcast page.  In this episode, youth worker Andy Matzke joins Jonathan once again... this time with two of his student leaders. The four of them talk about: student leadership, youth culture today and the temptations that kids face, integrity, and finally the effect that mission trips and service projects can have on our kids. Episode Highlights:
Delivered free via e-mail to subscribers each week. We encourage you to distribute this newsletter freely and ask only that you not change its contents. HAVE YOU MISSED PAST "EZINE" ARTICLES? CLICK HERE FOR JONATHAN'S "EZINE" ARCHIVES And for more FREE resources and ideas ... go to THE SOURCE www.TheSource4YM.com Copyright ©2008 The Source for Youth Ministry All rights reserved. |
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