churchrelevance.com

A recent study by The Barna Group researched the spirituality of teens as well as what they want and learn from church. Here is what they discovered:

In a typical week,

• 72% of teens pray
• 48% attend  a worship service at a church
• 35% attend Sunday school
• 33% attend youth group
• 32% participate in a small group
• 31% read the Bible

What teens expect at church:

• 45% of teens expect “to worship or make a connection with God”
• 42% expect “to better understand what I believe”
• 34% expect “to spend time with close friends”
• 34% expect “to get encouraged or inspired”
• 30% expect “to volunteer or help others”

What teens prefer for church:

• 39% of teens prefer a church that teaches how their faith should influence everyday decisions and lifestyle
• 16% prefer a church that teaches the traditions and background of their faith
• 45% do not care

What topics taught at church shaped teens’ views in the last 12 months:

• 65% said moral and ethical standards
• 62% relationships
• 55% faith traditions
• 50% evangelism
• 35% media, movies, and television
• 30% money and finances
• 28% the supernatural world
• 27% leisure activities
• 26% government and law
• 22% art and music
• 21% health issues
• 9% technology

Overall, the research is not surprising. Sadly, it affirms that a large portion of teens just don’t care. It is not that they simply just don’t care about the teaching style; the low levels of weekly spiritual commitment also prove that they don’t care enough to invest their time into spiritual things.

Obviously, hearing God’s Word is not enough to transform many teenagers into being doers of God’s Word. So what is needed to engage these teenagers in a way that causes them to start caring enough to do God’s Word? I believe that meaningful relationships are the key. The measure of your relationship with teenagers directly affects the measure of the influence you have with them. And your influence can dramatically shape how they live their lives.

CBS News reports that 1 in 33 teens ages 12-17 have tried meth. On average, they were 12 years old when they first tried it. The report also states:

• 1 in 4 teens say it would be “very” or “somewhat” easy for them to get meth
• 1 in 6 say they have a friend or family member who has used meth or been treated for meth use
• 1 in 10 say that they have been offered meth before

If you are the youth minister of 30 students, three of your students have probably been offered meth before and one student may have actually tried it. And if the average teenager who has tried meth did so by age 12, then it is not just an issue affecting youth groups but children’s ministries as well.

In youth ministry, drug use isn’t a new problem to address. It has been a hot topic for years. But in children’s ministry, there are kids who are also facing youth ministry-sized issues. Few children’s ministers address these tough issues, which is understandable since the maturity gap among kids is often far wider than it is among teenagers. But reality is that kids face tough issues like drugs too, and they also need ministered to about tough issues.

[via Ypulse]

The Barna Group asked parents to identify the most significant or challenging issues facing their kids and teenagers, and they discovered:

For Teenagers

• 42% listed peer pressure
• 16% performance in school
• 16% substance abuse
• 15% behavioral issues
• 6% values development
• 5% college choices and acceptance
• 5% attitude
• 5% media use
• 3% listed challenges related to their teen’s faith

For Young Children

• 26% listed school performance
• 24% listed peer pressure
• 10% behavioral issues
• 6% attitudes 
• 6% media use
• 5% family-related struggles
• 5% health-related struggles
• 5% issues related to maturation
• 3% listed challenges related to their child’s faith

George Barna notes that the percentage of youth challenged by peer pressure doubles by high school, and he adds the following bit of wisdom:

Understanding the tensions that kids are wrestling with enables an adult to connect with a child at a deeper level. Acknowledging the challenges, relating teaching to the issues they face, and even praying more specifically for these young people are ways of retaining and even deepening the relationship while providing tangible assistance to each child.

Whether you are a children’s minister or youth pastor, you need to understand what life is like for the young people in your ministry. The key to relevance is understanding people.

Open Mind Research and OTX Research studied kids ages 13 to 19 and discovered:

What Defines Them

• 44% say music defines them 
• 39% say family defines them
• 38% say moral values define them

About Marketing

• 32% rank TV advertising as the most influential form of media
• 28% rank magazine advertising as the most influential form of media

Brandweek highlighted the research, which also investigates the effect of brands on teenagers. Their article includes the following interesting quote by Anastasia Goodstein of Ypulse:

Teens are going through a stage in their life where they are figuring out who they are. As they change their own identities multiple times, the brands adjust along with that. They can be completely in an Abercrombie phase and they switch to another group of friends, get into Emo music and are shopping at Hot Topic instead.

While teenagers may be in a fickle state of trying to find themselves, it is notable that, at the core, they still view their family and moral values as major influences that define their identity. I believe that their values essentially remain the same despite their lifestyles changing from subculture to subculture. They are still receptive to hearing the values of the Bible but are most receptive when those values are communicated in a style that is relevant to their own.

Rust-Oleum offers several creative products that have great potential for student ministries and even the church office.

1. Magnetic Primer
2. Dry Erase Paint
3. Chalkboard Paint
4. Glow in the Dark Paint

So if you are looking to magnetize your walls, write on them, or even create patterns that glow in the dark, Rust-Oleum offers affordable solutions to make it happen. 

[via CoolBusinessIdeas.com]

Vision 20/20 has created a free online sex offender locator tool that lets you search for predators within a specific community. The tool not only shows you the location of each registered sex offender in you community but also allows you to learn more about each sex offender including what offences they have committed and a what they look like.

This is a great resource for church security departments who want to be aware of and be able to recognize people who visit their church who have previously been convicted of a crime such as “lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years” or “child pornography.” Family Watchdog also offers a similar resource.

As we have discussed before, the sad reality is that 16% of boys and 20% of girls are sexually molested before their 18th birthday. It is your church’s responsibility to keep its children safe while attending church. Be aware of what threats may be living just a few blocks away.

[via TechCrunch]

USA Today recently shared some disturbing research about life for kids today. According to University of New Hampshire’s Crimes Against Children Research Center: 

• 4% (1 in 25) of youths ages 10-17 who surf the Internet are asked at some point during the year to transmit a sexual picture of themselves.
• 10% (1 in 10) are asked to send photos of themselves.

The study also revealed that a rising share of youths were harassed and bullied online, often by peers, and more were exposed to unwanted child porn. One in three youths saw such porn while surfing the Internet in 2005, up from one in four in 2000.

Without question, kids today encounter more predators and perverts than the kids of twenty years ago. The issues that 10 year olds are facing today are the topics that were reserved for youth groups or college ministries in the past. Elementary school children are encountering far greater problems than just being tempted to steal a candy bar at grocery store.

But addressing these problems can be difficult for children’s ministers because the gap between the “sheltered” kids and the “over-exposed” kids seems to be ever-widening. I believe that such topics can be handled tactfully, but children’s ministers must be well aware of what life is like at their students’ ages on a national scale as well as locally.

It may surprise you how often some young children are approached with cyberbullying, drugs, alchohol, or sex, but it is a sad reality for many students. And ignoring or being oblivious to such tough topics will only create a bigger disconnect between students and the church.

On a similar note, have good church security, create guidelines for teacher/student conduct, and background check every volunteer and staff member.

Also, check out these previous statistics we highlighted last August.

A recent eMarketer article shares a fascinating comparison of daily media usage from three different age groups of tweens and teens in 2005.

Average Television Consumption (hrs:mins)
(TV, videos, DVDs)

• 3:17 per 8-10 year old
• 3:16 per 11-14 year old
• 2:36 per 15-18 year old

Average Video Game Consumption (hrs:mins)
(console, handheld)

• 1:05 per 8-10 year olds
• 0:52 per 11-14 year olds
• 0:33 per 15-18 year olds

Average Music Consumption (hrs:mins)
(radio, CDs, tapes, MP3s)

• 0:59 per 8-10 year old
• 1:42 per 11-14 year old
• 2:24 per 15-18 year old

Average Online Consumption (hrs:mins)

• 0:37 per 8-10 year old
• 1:02 per 11-14 year old
• 1:22 per 15-18 year old

This research makes it easy for us to see that older elementary school children watch more television and play more video games than high school students, but high school students listen to more music and use the Internet longer.

By high school, video game usage is cut in half and Internet usage is doubled. And in an even greater contrast, high school students listen to 2.5 times more music than they did at the end of elementary school. Television consumption only slightly dips.

What does this mean to the church?

Children’s ministers can find great insight into kid culture by learning what television programming and video games are most popular with 8-10 year olds. These are the media channels that predominantly influence this age group.

And youth ministers should pay close attention to what music and online activities are popular with their senior high students. Middle school is a bridge between the two with media consumption sharing similarities with both the younger and older consumers.