I posted this two years ago — and sadly, the trend seems to be holding for now. Do you see this on your campus?
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According to the latest research put out by Barna, regular involvement faith-related small groups among teens has drastically declined over the last 13 years.
This finding confirms what I’ve been seeing on my current campus over the past 5 years. In fact, over the course of my 13 years in campus ministry I believe I’ve seen the rise and fall (and in some cases, the rise again) of the ‘big three’ programing elements: worship, small groups and outreach.
According to Barna, small group involvement among teens is the most recent of the ‘big three’ to hit the skids – falling from 30% of teens being regularly involved in some sort of small group, back in 1997, down to just 21% at present.
For a generation that is known to be almost obsessed with community, this seems like an unlikely trend… but I’ve seen it first hand for myself, so sadly, I know it to be true.
I’ll explore some ideas about how we might challenge this trend on our campuses in tomorrow’s post, but for now:
- Have you noticed this trend on your campus? Do your students struggle to be involved with spiritually-oriented small groups? Are you concerned?
- What do you think might be at the root of this trend? Or do you think it’s simply a part of a cycle of growing/fading popularity that is currently in a ‘valley’ place right now for small groups?
- If you’re experiencing great ‘success’ in the area of small groups right now, how might you account for this? What have your students heard/experienced that has convinced them to be a part of the 21% minority described by Barna?
Thanks for sharing your insight and experiences below!
6 thoughts on “Small Group Involvement Declines”
Thanks for sharing these numbers, Guy. It’s unfortunate, for sure.
I think that we’re hard-wired for community. And the way that our culture works, we’ll go to the place that’s giving it the most effectively…sometimes it’s Starbucks, sometimes it’s the bar, sometimes it’s an online community, sometimes it’s through sports teams. The Church should be the place that offers the most robust, grace-filled experience of community out there. But the reality is that sometimes what we offer isn’t attractive to the lost community.
I’m not saying we should water down the Gospel at all. I’m proposing that we live out the Gospel in our community, and show the world what authentic community really looks like…one that loves God and others.
Great word Ben! Thanks for this encouragement to us all as we start a new year.
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