A few weeks ago I visited with David Kinnaman, president of Barna Research and co-author of UnChristian.
His top selling book gives insight into what 18-29-year-old non-Christians think about the church. Dave is working on a new book to tackle the question of why so many churched kids walk away from their faith.
I said, "Dave, I'm speaking to a lot of educators and parents in the next few weeks. Are there any conclusions you can share with me?"
Dave emphasized that research is still underway so his conclusions are tentative. Then he said, "One helpful thing we're learning is that the lower the ratio of adults to students the better learning environment. The learning quotient goes dramatically down with the bigger group."
He went on to say that successful youth ministries do not necessarily translate into successful Christian living: "You can have a lot of great teaching, but that doesn't line up with the way people say they grow."
"How do they grow?" I asked.
"Through personal relationship," he replied, adding, "Small is the new big."
This conclusion explains a lot:
- - why kids with involved Christian parents have a better chance of becoming spiritually strong.
- - why life-on-life mentoring is so important in the home, school and church.
- - why small group programs with lots of committed adults are more successful in preparing spiritual champions than large meetings.
