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October 28, 2020
The following article is located at: https://www.christianitytoday.com/pastors/2007/october-online-only/evangelical-drop-outs.html
CT Pastors, October 2007
Evangelical Drop-Outs
posted October 15, 2007

Our friends at Out of Ur recently wrote a post regarding a new survey that finds 70 percent of young adults stop attending church by age 23. The research was conducted by LifeWay Research and directed by Ed Stetzer, an editorial advisor for Building Church Leaders:

A new study reported by USAToday finds that a high percentage of young adults who attended church while in high school stop attending by age 23. The poll was conducted by LifeWay Research, an affiliate of the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention. 70% of young adults drop out of Protestant churches, and 34% do not attend even sporadically after age 30. That means at least one in four young people who leave the church never return.

"This is sobering news that the church needs to change the way it does ministry," says Ed Stetzer, who directed the study. "It seems the teen years are like a free trial on a product.

By 18, when it's their choice whether to buy in to church life, many don't feel engaged and welcome," says ...

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