Four Year Report: How Many Faith Ascent Graduates are Still Christians / Still In Church?

After compiling statistics from several sources we discovered that, at best, only 40% of professing Christian teens will carry their beliefs through college. That means that at least 60% will not. Beyond that, even fewer remain active in a local church and fewer are returning to the church in their 30’s. These stats don’t just represent kids from someone else’s family or from someone else’s church. You know these kids. You could name 1, or 2, or 10 of them right now. These stats have recognizable faces.

 

To stem this tide Faith Ascent developed strategic student programs including summer camps, small groups, and seminars. Our programs are designed to help parents and pastors address the unique challenges today’s Christian teens are facing. 

So, do our programs actually work? Great Question! 

Part of our strategy includes tracking and staying connected with graduates after they leave your home and church. Recently, the team and I personally surveyed all the students who participated in our 2010 programs. After connecting, we asked them these three simple but important questions: 

1. “Do you still have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?” 

2. “Are you still active in a local church or Christian community?” 
 
3. “Can you give an example of how our training helped you deal with doubts and communicate your faith in college?” 

How did they respond? 

1. 100% (29/29) still have a personal relationship with Jesus.  
(I asked point blank if they still loved Jesus and promised to keep it confidential.)
   
2. 79% (23/29) are still active in a local church or a community of Christians! 
(Two were not counted because they were looking for new churches.)

3. Most said the training they received was instrumental in their battles with doubts and their discussions with unbelievers. (We will post some of those stories on our website!) 

Stop right there! I know what you are thinking. This is far from a rigorous and controlled scientific study. I know and I agree. We certainly have a lot more work to do and we have several more questions we need answers to. But, can we agree that our initial results analysis is hopeful? Can we agree that we are on to something here? 

Dream with me for just a minute… 

What if each year, over and over, we see that Faith Ascent students are statistically more likely to maintain their faith through college and stay connected to a church? What if each year we connect all of our students with campus ministries all over the country? What if each year we continue to send out trained student evangelists to effectively share the gospel on campus and in their circles of influence? 

Will you help us? 

Every year our programs grow, our budget grows, and by God’s grace we raise just enough funds do it over again the next year. But now, more than ever, we need partners like you to join our support team. Will you help us? Click here for details or contact me directly to schedule a meeting. I really want to hear from you!