MORE COLLEGE STUDENTS WALKING AWAY FROM CHRISTIANITY
Pastor Dale Morgan
MORE COLLEGE STUDENTS WALKING AWAY FROM CHRISTIANITY*
by Christina Quick
Allison Lynn grew up attending an Assemblies of God church with her
family. But when she moved from home to go to Texas State University in
San Marcos, she walked away from her faith.
"I wanted to experience college life and all that went with it," Lynn
says. "I knew in my heart I couldn't do some of the things [other
college students] were doing and still call myself a Christian. So I
just decided I didn't want anything to do with God."
The binge drinking, drugs and relationships Lynn pursued didn't bring
her the freedom she craved. Instead, she spent much of her college
career feeling as though something was missing.
At the urging of her younger sister, Lynn started attending Chi Alpha
her junior year and eventually rededicated her life to Christ. Now a
senior at TSU, Lynn hopes to become a youth pastor and help other young
people avoid the mistakes she made.
"I see a lot of students doing the same things," she says. "They have a
void in their lives that they're trying to fill with the wrong things. I
drank alcohol until I threw up. What I really needed was God in my life."
Lynn's story is not unusual. An alarming number of college students are
severing ties with the church. Some, such as Lynn, later return to the
faith. Others walk away permanently.
More than two-thirds of Protestant young adults exit the church between
the ages of 18 and 22, according to a recent report by LifeWay Research,
a branch of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Among the chief reasons young adults gave for quitting church - one in
four mentioned the transition to college, while 22 percent said they
moved too far from church to keep attending and 27 percent said they
just wanted a break. Another 23 percent named work responsibilities as
the primary factor.
"The years immediately following high school graduation often determine
the course of a person's life as decisions are made about careers,
lifestyles and spouses," says George O. Wood, general superintendent of
the Assemblies of God. "It's a tragic loss when a young person walks
away from the body of believers during this crucial time. We must pray
and do our best to not let that happen."
Wood says approximately 60,000 AG youth are expected to graduate from
high school next spring. National statistics indicate 50 to 70 percent
will leave the faith within four years. Among those who attend
evangelical colleges, however, the percentage is only about 5 percent.
"The temptations [on a secular campus] can be so strong during the
college years," says Dennis Gaylor, national director of Chi Alpha
campus ministries. "It's easy to fall away if you don't connect with
other Christians early."
Gaylor says the relationships that first-year college students form
during the initial weeks of school are often the ones that continue to
influence them during their entire four-year stay. Those who are part of
Chi Alpha try to make connections quickly, even offering to carry
students' luggage as soon as they arrive on campus.
But those efforts aren't always enough to keep students involved in
church life, according to Dick Herman, Lynn's Chi Alpha pastor at TSU.
"There are students who check out our campus ministry once or twice and
then we never see them again," Herman says. "Ultimately, they're pulled
away by other things and other relationships."
To address the challenge, Chi Alpha is partnering with a new
organization designed to help students develop Christian relationships
on campus long before the school year begins.
Youth Transition Network operates a comprehensive Web site,
LiveAbove.com, that links students to campus ministries and local
churches as well as potential Christian roommates and friends before
they set foot on campus. Registered users can peruse the database and
Web links by entering a zip code or the name of a city or university.
The site includes information on more than 4,300 campuses, including
community colleges.
"Our goal is to get them connected with people who can be godly
influences on their lives - before they ever leave home," says Jeff
Schadt, a former Campus Crusade for Christ pastor and founder of YTN.
"When they arrive on campus, they could be met on the curb by a friend
so they're not alone that first day."
The organization operates a second Web site as well,
YouthTransitionNetwork.org. This site is designed to help parents and
ministry leaders equip students for the college transition.
YTN is a coalition of numerous campus and youth ministries, including
Chi Alpha, Campus Crusade, The Navigators, Josh McDowell Ministry,
Baptist Collegiate Ministry, National Network of Youth Ministries, and
Youth for Christ.
Gaylor says the crisis of churches losing young people on America's
campuses has sparked the first time all the major players in university
ministry have cooperated to address an overarching need.
"We've been very evangelistic when it comes to reaching the
non-Christians on campus," Gaylor says. "Now, with so many of our own
falling away, we're recognizing we have to be more deliberate about
reaching the church kids."