Churches Struggle to Attract Youths

Congregations that run away from issues of sex, violence and drugs are contributing to an exodus of high school youths from the nation’s churches.

In a new study, more than nine in 10 congregations report trouble keeping high school students involved, while only 9% say they are doing a good job of reaching out to youths most at risk.

What kids are being offered on a regular basis are the traditional programs of formal religious instruction and youth groups, according to the study of 527 religious youth workers by the Minneapolis-based Search Institute.

What kids want are caring relationships with adults in the congregation, opportunities for community service and discussions of sex, drugs, violence and racial prejudice--”all of these big issues that many adults in kids’ lives are afraid to deal with,” said Peter C. Scales, a senior fellow at the institute.

Paul Henderson, associate director of the Secretariat for Family, Laity, Women and Youth of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the study findings ring true.

“We just haven’t convinced enough pastors and enough church leadership that we have to take youth work seriously,” he said.

In the study, funded by the DeWitt Wallace-Readers Digest Fund, more than 2,000 religious youth workers in Minnesota, North Carolina and Missouri were surveyed by mail in March 1995. There were 527 respondents by the May cutoff date, about a 26% response rate.

The survey found that just at the age when young people are facing difficult decisions about sex, alcohol, drugs and other perils of adolescence, they are breaking ties with the religious communities that can offer spiritual guidance and nurture.

Only 8% of respondents said their congregations have a lot of trouble keeping children in grades 5 and 6 involved, although 52% reported some trouble keeping that age group involved.

By the time the kids reach high school, the problem is dramatically greater. Fifty-five percent said their congregations have a lot of trouble keeping high schoolers involved, with an additional 38% reporting some trouble holding on to youths in grades 10 to 12.

Part of the problem, according to the study of people working in youth ministry, is a lack of support.

Forty-six percent of respondents said their congregations provide only fair or poor budgetary support for youth programs, while 54% said there is only fair or poor congregational support for youth work as a priority. Only 43% said they have a clear mission statement for the program.

One finding that was particularly striking was the gap between the goals youth workers say are important and whether the congregation is achieving those goals.