Again and again over the last decade the Church has been discussing the unfortunate and terrifying realization that more than two-thirds of our active church-going high school students report losing their faith during their first year of college or between the ages of 18 and 22.  But in truth, this isn’t an isolated problem to a specific age. We are regularly faced with young believers at all ages who, for one reason or another, walk away from the Lord. As we diligently work to follow the Lord’s command to go into the world and make disciples, we know that the only answer to this dilemma is active, personal discipleship. But as we stare into the face of the problem, the question that plagues the Church today is “How can we disciple more effectively?”

We spend thousands of dollars per year per church on everything from curriculum, flannel graphs and crafts to multi-media productions, video and professionally-mixed live music. We employ armies of staff people and recruit volunteers to organize and coordinate Sunday school, mid-week and VBS programs. Yet, these young believers are regularly walking away from the Church. next »