A 134-page report released in September, shows that some 35 million youths raised in Christian families in the USA will give up on Christianity by the year 2050.
Greg Stier – founder of the youth ministry Dare 2 Share – says the report, called The Great Opportunity, is a chance for Christians to ‘flip the switch’. ‘How about not just slowing down the bleeding, what if there was a revival that flipped those stats? That is what we are praying for. How do we flip the switch?’
In order to achieve this, he said churches may need to rethink youth ministry.
‘Youth ministry needs to be re-engineered to be gospel-advancing and disciple-multiplying. It is not about meetings but about the mission. Young people are longing for a cause that matters. So they need to be equipped, and youth leaders need to be equipped to equip them.’
‘There is nothing wrong with games and all that stuff, but [youth groups] need to be serious about the mission that God has put before us. I think we have to have a higher standard for youth ministry than fun, games, pizza and a ten-minute lesson.’
