I’ve been around way too long to think that it really isn’t an issue. Sadly, my personal “way too long” includes way too many stories of kids who were a part of my youth groups. . . who then graduated from high school, youth group, and church. And judging from the number of ministry efforts that have sprung up over the last decade to address this reality, I’m not the only one who is concerned.
You can’t be a serious-about-faith-and-nurture parent, youth worker, pastor, or educator and not be concerned. Perhaps it’s not the data that pushes us to our knees in search of divine answers and direction, but the stories of those individual kids that we know and love that cause us to look for answers.
We recently had a conversation with Jon Nielson, a pastor who shares our concern. And in a ministry/parenting world where we sometimes wind up barking up the wrong tree, Jon Nielson walks us to the tree that deserves our attention. This is good stuff. I encourage you to give this latest episode of our Youth Culture Matters podcast a listen. Then, visit the page for the episode to find links to all the resources that are mentioned.