One concern about campus church plants is the issue of when you have a church made up of primarily college students, do they connect later in life to churches made up of people of all ages, etc?
In other words, does this kind of church help them love and commit to the church they will find in most places they go? In my view, and I think in at least the view of some youth ministry experts, separation of youth ministry from the church as a whole has been a huge mistake. Why do 4 out of 5 high school seniors who are active in church not have any spiritual connection in college?....cause they didn't join the church....they joined the youth group. Reports on youth ministry in Arkansas say more youth attend on Wednesday night than do on Sunday. I would guess that probably holds true most places.
So, where there is an option, is it wise to connect students to a church that is not "age-varied"? In Lifeway's study of 20-something's, one of the things expressed was a desire to be mentored by adults older and more experienced than they were. In visiting with a pastor friend who is very college ministry savvy, he said they would possibly start a Sunday college worship service since very few students from an adjacent campus were going anywhere to church. I told him I had great concerns about separating them from the variety of ages. He said, "Oh, I would never do it without enlisting a variety of age folks to be part of it."
Bottom line and we will not know the answer for 10 years or so, do college students who attend a church made up of college students connect to other churches in the years to come post-college?
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