Teens Expect to Learn in Church - Bravester

They also expect to learn about Jesus.

We must begin with this premise. Today’s teens are not growing up in church. True, some are. Some still have parents who are in church every Sunday, have their kids in every church program because they know this is good. It is good. I wish for more of this.

But I’ve been a youth pastor since 1981. I’ve experienced the drift. I also read the numbers. Teens aren’t raised in church anymore. Teens have no social obligation to go to church.

Yet teens are returning to church! The numbers say so also. They are curious about Jesus (the number say so also!) and want to learn more about Jesus. They expect the church to be the place to do this.

So be part of a church that does this.

Here is some recent Barna Research revealing the seven biggest reasons why Gen Z is bailing on Christianity. Those reasons are:

I have a hard time believing that a good God would allow so much evil or suffering in the world (29%)
Christians are hypocrites (23%)
I believe science refutes too much of the Bible (20%)
I don’t believe in fairy tales (19%)
There are too many injustices in the history of Christianity (15%)
I used to go to church, but it’s just not important to me anymore (12%)
I had a bad experience in church or with a Christian (6%) Source.

Here are some teaching topics your church can teach on and (importantly) create space for questions on. Wouldn’t you rather provide the space for these topics than AI?

Definitely be in a church that spends time teaching the way of Jesus. Jesus is so misunderstood. There are loads to teach just about Jesus and loads of questions to answer just about Jesus. And teens expect to learn about Jesus in church. Use the Bible a lot too. This is also an expectation.

But…but…but…teens don’t want to learn. They want to have fun. Especially during the after school hours when youth group or Bible study falls into.

Why isn’t this type of learning fun? Where will they get their questions answered? Why do we infantilize them with games and pizza?

Interesting note. Research from Springtide Research found that teens say they do want fun from a youth-serving organization. But fun is more about joy and what creates joy like having a heart-to-heart with a youth leader or understanding a theology concept finally. So you may hear they want fun and you may assume something differently. Source: Springtide’s Youth Ministry Field Guide

So says one teen:

“It’s hard being a teen. Like no matter how hard we try, we get disrespected and looked down upon. We aren’t stupid. We are young and learning.” https://springtideresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/thirteen-a-first-look-at-gen-alpha-springtide-research-institute.pdf

Yes, this is just one teen. But doesn’t something feel true to what this teen said? Do you hear a cry of this teen’s heart? Can your church provide this space?

Gen Z has grown up with little church experience. They are also lonelier than ever. They are more disconnected than ever. Could church be a place where they find connection and fulfillment for their longing to matter? Could actually teaching them about the way of Jesus help them know they matter?

“Most young people are not being formed primarily by their religious faith traditions; rather, they are being formed by other notions and ideologies. And in part this is because adults are afraid to teach. They are afraid of young people. They are afraid of not looking cool when they teach real substance. And yet youth actually want to be taught something, even if they eventually reject it. They at least want to have something to reject, rather than an attitude of anything goes. Teens need an opportunity to articulate, to think and to make arguments in environments that will be challenging to their faith. And I don’t think they are getting that. In general, religious traditions that expect more and demand more of their youth get more. And those that are more compromising, more accommodating, more anything-goes, end up not getting much.” –Dr. Christian Smith, Ethics and Public Policy Center, February 15, 2005

This is a warning from 2005. Twenty years ago. Can we learn from this?

Youth ministry programs can’t change how busy teens are, and teens don’t expect them to do that. However, youth ministry programs can shift their offerings to align with young people’s wants and needs.

Don’t forget about the blessings of intergenerational programs. This can form lifetime relationships with people outside of the algorithm and echo chambers. This also restores the abandonment Gen Z feels from so many of their adult relationships. Gen Z is curious about those who have “made it” and how you made it. About those who have a committed love story, because they have so rarely experienced this. Your church is full of beautiful people like this.

Your church can be a place where your teen learns about the way of Jesus using a Bible and give them relationships they can ask all of their questions too. Even those hard questions that sound like doubt.

No more bait-and-switch, please. I’ve been around long enough to have seen every variation of that. Meet the expectation. This is what teens expect to find at a church, especially those who haven’t really been to church.

Bonus read: This is article not written by me about why teens hate small groups. It is not the small group format, it is the infantilizing. https://youthministry.com/why-my-teen-hates-your-small-group/