Churchless You Lost Me Presented by Lost Sheep

Churchless; You Lost Me!

Presented by: Lost Sheep Ministries Based upon research performed by the Barna Group. Data taken from two books: Churchless And You Lost Me Copies Available. We have to charge $15. 00

PART I: The Problem If one’s Body is wounded and Hemorrhaging, You don’t just keep on as usual, You take immediate action to stop the bleeding. You know that if you do not take quick action, You Will Die!

Church Dropout (hemorrhaging) Rate Elders: 1945 – Earlier (Over 70 years old) Best Resource Age 28% Boomers: 1946 – 1964 (51 to 69) Preparing to take the Mantle Busters: 1965 – 1983 (32 to 50) Most Influence on next Generation 35% 40% Mosaics: 1984 – 2002 (13 to 31) The Future of the Church 48%

The Emphasis of this Retreat is on Mosaics (13 to 29 year olds)

Many of our churches are hemorrhaging members! We have not plateaued if the population around us is increasing while we remain the same! Can’t we do something to stop this loss? YES!

Types of Church Dropouts: Nomads: Nomads walk away from Church engagement but still consider themselves Christians. Prodigals: Prodigals lose their faith, describing themselves as “No longer Christian. ” Exiles: Exiles are still invested in their Christian faith but feel stuck (or lost) between culture and the church.

Unchanging Christianity This Research reveals the struggle between Christianity and our Culture And Changing Culture (the World) Each Are Trying to Influence the Other

This Retreat is about why churches are losing members and what can be done about it. The Hope of Revival of the Church is with Youth.

Teen church engagement remains robust, But many of the enthusiastic teens so common in our churches are not growing up to be faithful young adult Disciples of Christ! The dropout problem is, at its core, a faith development problem; to use religious language, it’s a discipleship making problem! The church is not adequately preparing the next generation to follow Christ faithfully in a rapidly changing culture.

American Teenagers are some of the Twentysomethings are most religiously active the least religiously Americans. active!

The Majority of Americans describe themselves as Christian. Some Teens Attend Church to meet other Teens. Where and when do you think this allegiance begins? Adults identify as Christians typically because they had formative experiences as a child or as a teenager Some Teens Attend to have that connected them to Christianity Some Use the Church as a Clean Fun. Platform to Practice Their But the connection is often shallow and on the Skills. surface, having more to do with social and cultural identification than it does with deep faith!

The Now that. Christian we have met the Nomads, Prodigals, and Exiles, here are three needs things learned community a from the Barna studies that can reverse the exodus from our churches: new mind – a new way of thinking, a Page 201: You Lost Me way of 1. new The church 2. We need to rediscover needs to relating, a new Christian calling and reconsider how we vision our role in vocation: Prepare Youth makeof disciples; for Adult life, and Equip on. Saints. the Christian the world to passthe faith to this and future 3. We need to reprioritize wisdom over information generations. as we seek to know God.

Elder Boomer Christian Generations are like links in a chain Mosaic Future Generations Seperated from the Church Buster

A Tragedy of the Modern Church is the mindset that just getting Youth to attend our meetings is successful ministry. We try to compete with the Culture by providing free pizza, playing games, and showing videos to attract crowds. If a Youth does not establish a genuine relationship with Jesus, she will leave the church when we stop giving out free pizza!

The Early Church was not a gathering for Entertainment and Fun! The Modern Church, however too often, teach Youth that Christianity is entertaining and fun!

1. The faith journeys of the next generation are not monochromatic or one-size fits all. 2. The majority of young dropouts are not walking away from faith; they are putting involvement in church on hold. 3. There is a countertrend in the You-Lost-Me data – young Christ-followers can be passionate, committed, and bursting to engage the culture for the sake of the Gospel.

Let’s Take A 15 Minute Break When You Return, We will Identify the six Reasons why people leave the church

The Most Vulnerable Unreached People Groups in our Neighborhood Are Being Ignored There are over 2, 000 registered Students in Typical US High Schools

The Next Generation is living in a new technological, social, and spiritual reality; this reality can be summed up in three words: 1. Access 2. Alienation 3. Authority

They have Access to all Information through Technology:

Mom, I miss Daddy so much Because I love him Many Experience Alienation from Family: She Will Not Likely Be Faithful Either! Really? , Why is that? That’s silly honey, Mommy is here. IF She is Not Faithful to Christ

They Question Authority: Parents Law Enforcement Teachers Institutions GOD!

Six Reason Why Young People Drop Out: (Page 91 -184 of You Lost Me) 1. Churches seem restrictive and overprotective. Self expression has become one of the foundations of our postmodern culture. The perception that the church restricts expression while turning a blind eye to real-world problems leads to a view of the church as, at best, an ineffective organization – and, at worst, a hypocritical one!

2. Christianity, as practiced, is too shallow. Today’s Young adults are the most over stimulated and widely educated generation in American history They are bombarded by information, images, sounds, and choices, and most are not content with a consistently ho-hum experience from church or anywhere else. Millions of young dropouts agree that something was lacking in their church experiences: 1/3 say “church is boring”, ¼ note that “faith is not relevant to my career or interests”, 20% say “God seems missing from my experience of church!”

3. Churches seem antagonistic to science. 35 % believe that Many young dropouts are not Christians are too science apologists as much as they confident that they are students seeking an honest know all the answers. conversation about reality. 23 % say they are “turned off by Pat Answers”. Research has found that many science-minded young Christians are struggling to find ways of staying faithful to both their religious beliefs and their sense of professional calling into a science-related field.

4. Churches are judgmental and rigid about sexuality. We currently see little restraint when it comes to public displays of sexually charged content, sexualized children and teenagers, widespread acceptance of multiple sexual partners and orientations. These characterize our current era as one of sexual promiscuity, experimentation, and sharing. Growing up in such an environment has left young people struggling with how to live meaningful lives in terms of sex and sexuality.

Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body. It is God’s design initiated by hormonal signals from the brain. While transitioning through the stages of puberty and early maturity, the traditional emphases on sexual purity and waiting for marriage to become sexually active seem increasingly outdated to the broader culture. Some in the Christian community are beginning to wonder if the problem has more to do with how churches express these positions than with the standards themselves. Interwoven with these issues are other cultural shifts such as delayed marriage, tens of millions of births outside marriage, and the relaxation of sexual regulation in the media.

5. The exclusivity of Christianity is a turnoff. Young adults typically embrace tolerance, open mindedness, flexibility, and inclusiveness, and most want to find areas of common ground with each other, even if that requires minimizing real and critical differences. In this context, Christianity’s claims that Jesus is the only way to salvation, that the Bible is the only reliable and authoritative word of God, and that Christianity is the only Thisthat church is posting a message that only select faith connects people to the Creator and Rulerpeople of the are welcome in the club! universe upsets many young adults! This Photo is of a church adjacent to a High School!

6. Churches are unfriendly to those with emotional problems and doubts. Many young adults who formerly attended a Christian church feel More than one-third of that churches are not safe places young dropouts say to wrestle with doubts about they are unable “to ask beliefs, teachings, or practices of my most pressing life Christianity. questions in church. ” A significant number of young unchurched adults feel misunderstood and ignored in times of need because churches, “do not help with depression or other emotional problems. ” Many Youth are seeking a safe and loving environment where they can express and discuss their emotional problems (family relationships, drugs, sex, peer pressure, etc. )