Churches Have Lost 14 to 38 Year Olds

Submitted by Dale Laurin

The future of the Christian church is in serious jeopardy because of the loss of youth and young adults in our country. The tragedy is made worse because churches are not responding with adequate measures to counter this trend. It could be that simply a misunderstanding of these young people is causing this.  The Barna Group, a Christian data collection and polling company, has identified this misunderstanding as a potential cause for the exodus of young people from our churches.  The problem is widespread and has, in my opinion, not been addressed and talked about enough in the church over the years.  It is also my belief that this trend is not going to be resolved and rectified by the current leaders of our churches. Instead I believe that it is the young people and youth who will be the ones to bring the Gospel to their own generation.  But how will they do this, how will they encourage one another to know the Lord, and how can we equip them to do this work?

These younger generations live on the Internet and on their cell phones now days. What does this mean for us as the church universal?  How can we go to them where they already are?  How can we as the church have a greater and more interactive presence on the Internet?  My hope, along with all of us at Faith In Action Arizona, is that our new online church would serve as a tool and resource to attract the lost, the marginalized, and those who have walked away from the church. At this time we have five young adults, who are faithfully committed to the mission of Faith In Action Arizona. As members, they have been approaching existing church pastors to introduce their younger members to the online Faith In Action discipleship program. These five are serving in accordance with Matthew 28:18, the Great Commission.

They have a huge job ahead of them, and they need our help. There are 44 million in the us between the ages of 14 and 34.  Data suggests that a third of that demographic does not go to church.  I think the percentage is much higher than that.  Other statistics concerning this generation show the concerning rise of depression and suicide.  So many live without the hope and peace of Christ, which I believe could change this disturbing trend. My own son committed suicide when he was 23 years old. There is a lot about his situation that I do not know, but I do know that he did not know Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. This is why I am so passionate about these lost.

You probably have relatives, maybe even children or grand children that do not go to church. One program that we are working on and developing at Faith In Action Arizona is grandparent mentoring.  This program will make it possible to have an online dinner table with your family.  You can have birthday parties, pizza, or meet up for any other reason through our relationship with a company called Zoom.  Through these online portals and rooms, we hope to promote stronger relationship with those you love that may be far away, and even provide mentorship in how to encourage them in their walk with the Lord.  After a few meetings they might get curious about some of the other resources we have at FaithInActionAZ.org.  Our hope is that in time they will connect with us, and will become members of our online church and then in time, as their faith matures, they would connect with a physical church as well.

In addition to providing mentoring to parents and grandparents with an online platform for family relationship, we are hoping that our streaming capabilities will also help out other churches that have lost a pastor or needs other additional resources.  We hope to have online Bible studies and other resources available.  Two churches in Washington State have already inquired about this and with over 300 Lutheran churches in the Pacific Southwest District, there are many potential users of this tool. St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Mesa has already subscribed to using our online platform for outreach. They have increased their attendance by about 30 and expect this outreach tool to bring in additional attendance.

As a Missouri Synod Lutheran church and also a mission church to MVLC, FaithInActionAZ.Org is growing but needs financial support every step of the way.  Every donation will assure that programs, like our Grandparent Mentoring Program can grow and continue to thrive. If interested in supporting our efforts, you may send checks to…

Pacific Southwest District 
1540 Concordia Drive 
East Irvine, CA 92612-3203 
(Add instruction on bottom of check “For Faith In Action Lutheran Church”.)