Getting Your Kids Through Church
http://www.gettingyourkidsthroughchurch.org.uk
Getting Your Kids Through Church Without Them Ending Up Hating God* is a churchwide initiative to help prevent a generation of young people being lost to the church.
The Facts
- 1.1million children lost to the church from 1990 to 2020*
- The 2010 estimate for the number of under 15’s who will attend church is 375,300. The 2020 estimate is 183,700*
- 72% of Christians come to faith before the age of 19: childhood is a crucial period in the development of faith**
- Most of the religious beliefs, behaviours and expectations that define a person’s life have been developed and embraced by the age of 13**
* Christian Research – Trends 7
** Christian Research – Faith Journeys survey
The Vision
To stem the tide of young people leaving the church and to help churches, parents and all those working with young people to understand some of the reasons why and begin to address them.
We aim to present a challenge and to encourage and equip parents and leaders to meet that challenge by:
- Taking a fresh look at what may cause young people to turn away from the church and how we can play our part in reversing this trend
- Thinking in new ways about what is happening in the lives of young people and what really matters to God
- Considering how the way we live out our own faith impacts young people
- Learning from the wisdom and experience of other parents and leaders who have gone through similar challenges
The how
Care for the Family has set the ball rolling through the book by Rob Parsons and major nationwide event tours. A number of like-minded organisations have committed to working with us and together we plan to develop complementary resources.
But the real answer to the question ‘How?’ is: through you. Via this website and our Facebook and Twitter pages we want to encourage parents, leaders and church members to join the conversation – to share their experiences (the highs and the lows), to ask the difficult questions and to answer them so that together we can make progress in preventing a generation of young people being lost to the church.
*Getting Your Kids Through Church Without Them Ending Up Hating God is an initiative of Care for the Family. To find out more about Care for the Family, click here.
THE TOUR
However many of them don’t actually turn their back on God, but on something else.
This tour, presented by Care for the Family, is an opportunity for parents, church leaders and youth workers to join Rob Parsons, Saltmine Theatre Company and Phatfish as we discover together what that ‘something’ might be, and try to change it.
Each event will feature a challenging message, inspirational drama and worship, partner exhibitors, resources and more!
- Wednesday 23rd May: BRADFORD
- Thursday 24th May: BRENT CROSS (LONDON)
For more information and to book tickets go to:
