Endangered
Baby sea turtles have a tough life. Momma sea turtle lays hundreds of eggs in the sand then leaves them to make it on their own. The fortunate ones that escape being eaten by raccoons, crabs, and dogs will then hatch and have to dig themselves out of the sand to face a gauntlet of birds, crabs, and other predators in a mad dash to the sea. Those that make it to the water must then contend with fish, sharks, killer whales, and environmental dangers. It is estimated that only 1 to 5 percent survives the first year.
That ratio is improving through the efforts of determined conservationists. It would be nice if sea turtles could get off the endangered species list.
But there is a much more alarming situation facing another endangered species. Unfortunately, it is not on the list of any environmental or conservationist organization. According to recent statistics, the college-age church attender (Americanus Christianicus) is facing extinction. It is reported that 60 – 75% of college students drop out of church in the first year.
This really is a serious matter that needs to be addressed. Youth Transition Network is one resource to help reverse the trend. We will discuss this more in the future. The links below offer a place to start.
Youth Transition Network offers tools that churches and parents can use to encourage their students to connect for life.
LiveAbove.com is an outreach of the Youth Transition Network: a coalition of youth, college and military ministries that are working together to transition students.
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January 15th, 2008 at 8:52 am
I’m glad you mentioned this serious issue. I now have two daughters in college. For the past 12 years, they have been active in CTS, Truth & Peace, and attended several of the conferences pertaining to their age category. Just the other day, Mandy said, “All these years they have wanted us involved, then we graduate and we’re dropped!”. We are trying very hard at our church to include our college age students in the training of those coming up, but that doesn’t make it any easier or help them understand the transition from being a “youth” to being an “adult”. This is one area that I feel churches have failed. Keeping ALL ages of the church happy is not an easy task; I’d love to hear your thoughts on the college-age students, and how to keep them from feeling left out.
January 24th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
There is an ongoing search for solutions. Hopefully the young adult curriculum will help address this need.
This topic is also on the agenda for the upcoming FWB Youth Pastor Summit (see YPS post).