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Derek Melleby from the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding recently posted an excerpt from an interview with sociologist Tim Clydesdale about his research for The First Year Out as it relates to college transition (for more from both of these guys on our site, listen to Kara’s interview with Derek and read Meredith’s article about Clydesdale’s lockbox theory).
It’s a great snapshot of Clydesdale’s work, so I’d recommend reading the whole thing. But I also am excerpting from one paragraph here, reflecting on college students who had walked away from faith:
In many cases, these teens reported having important questions regarding faith during early adolescence (12-14 years old) that were ignored by their parents or pastors rather than taken seriously and engaged thoughtfully. It is in early adolescence that faith trajectories (along with other life trajectories) are set… early adolescence is the time when churches must prepare their youth, and must do so fully aware that youth now arbitrate among many claims for their allegiance. Sadly, most youth ministries are long on fun and fluff and short on listening and thoughtful engagement. The former produces a million paper boats; the latter produces a handful of seaworthy ships. Launching a million paper boats is an amazing spectacle on a clear summer day, but only a ship can weather storms and cross oceans.
Paper boats versus seaworthy ships. That’s powerful. Not sure about you, but I’m less and less impressed with spectacle youth ministry and more and more searching for those building seaworthy ships…
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