Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Does Church Work?

Billions of dollars are spent each year on a myriad of programs within institutional churches. The following book reveals some unexpected results. Unexpected, that is, by the leaders of these churches. Even the authors call the results, "shocking." Young adults aren't surprised at all and their response is more like, "Duh!"

Already Gone

Why your kids will quit church and what you can do to stop it

By Ken Ham and Britt Beemer
If you look around in your church today, two-thirds of the young people have already left in their hearts; soon they will be gone for good.

That is the alarming conclusion of the first scientific study of its kind, the Beemer Report, which reveals startling facts discovered through 20,000 phone calls and detailed surveys of a thousand 20-29 year olds who used to attend evangelical churches on a regular basis, but have since left it behind.

In Already Gone: Why your kids will quit church and what you can do to stop it, popular author Ken Ham and consumer behavior analyst, C. Britt Beemer, combine to reveal trends that must be dealt with now... before we lose another generation.

The study found that we are losing our kids in elementary, middle school, and high school rather than college, and the Sunday school syndrome is contributing to the epidemic, rather than helping alleviate it.

The results are not just surprising; they're shocking:
  • Those who faithfully attend Sunday School are more likely to leave the church than those who do not.

  • Those who regularly attend Sunday School are more likely to believe that the Bible is less true.

  • Those who regularly attend Sunday School are actually more likely to defend that abortion and gay marriage should be legal.

  • Those who regularly attend Sunday School are actually more likely to defend premarital sex.

1 comment:

Jamie A. Grant said...

Oh, that's an awesome bit of counter-intuitive research...