My church is full of old people and children.

[Jackson Cooper]

Title says it all. I don't see too many people who are between the ages of 15 and 25.
Anybody else have this issue?

 

[Deadworm]

Title says it all. I don't see too many people who are between the ages of 15 and 25.
Anybody else have this issue?

That's true of most churches that lack a talented praise team with a good bass, guitar player, and drummer. Let me guess: your church still uses their obsolete organ and/ or piano and sings traditional hymns? A death knell in contemporary culture! Why would young couples with children attend any church that lacks a vibrant youth program and Sunday school, if they have that option in other more contemporary styled churches?

 

[Jackson Cooper]

That's true of most churches that lack a talented praise team with a good bass, guitar player, and drummer. Let me guess: your church still uses their obsolete organ and/ or piano and sings traditional hymns? A death knell in contemporary culture! Why would young couples with children attend any church that lacks a vibrant youth program and Sunday school, if they have that option in other more contemporary styled churches?

I'm Eastern Orthodox lol. We don't even use an organ, just a choir. Also, most people stand instead of sit.

Even then, the Baptist church I grew up in had guitars and stuff like that. Young adults and teenagers were also a rare sight. The other high school kids in Sunday School were obsessed with their actual school activities like football and volleyball. Sometimes they talked more about school than anything church-related.

 

[R. Hartono]

I don't see too many people who are between the ages of 15 and 25.

John 21:18 When you were young, you girded yourself, and walked wherever you would: but when you shalt be old, you shalt stretch forth your hands, and another shall gird you, and carry you where you want not.

 

[Deadworm]

I'm Eastern Orthodox lol. We don't even use an organ, just a choir. Also, most people stand instead of sit.[/QUOTE

A perfect formula for a failing western church! Here is eastern Washington state, traditional churches have generally lost their young people. But some churches with a talented praise band have grown into a mega-church just full of young people and growing in leaps and bounds. It's not enough just to have guitars and a key board, like your former Baptist church. The band must truly be gifted.

When I lived in Buffalo, NY, a local Methodist church was almost dead--down to about 20 older people and close to closure. Then they hired a new pastor and his wife who were gifted singers and contemporary musicians. In no time at all, they had to build a new church for the many hundreds of new young people who flocked to their church. Nothing special about the preaching. Their contemporary sound made the decisive difference! I'm not happy about this phenomenon, but we must recognize the necessary (if not always sufficient) conditions for a large infusion of enthusiastic young couples.

 

[dzheremi]

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6)

By the time they are teenagers or in the 20s, youth in the west have had a lot of socialization via school, television and other forms of mass media, Facebook, etc. that is working directly against the Christian religion, in favor of at best a social gospel devoid of the true transformative power of Christ, and at worst various replacement ideologies that promote other anthropologies, soteriologies, and ultimately other gods.

Can it be any wonder, then, that so many leave and do not return? The call to enter into Christ's death in the hopes of rising with Him will never be popular with the world. The cross is, after all, foolishness to those who are perishing. But particularly when placed against the temptations and gains of the world, it takes a strong person to turn to it, with supplication and trembling. The message of the world tells you not to do that, because it is beneath any 'free' being to submit to anything that would circumvent his own will.

And also there is the fact that what is presented as Christianity before the world is, in the main, so incredibly banal and shallow that it is easier to turn away from than to search for depth in. I feel like the less I say about this the better, but if you are Eastern Orthodox (and particularly if you became so after being something else), then you probably know what I mean. There is a palpable difference between the ancient ways and the modern approaches, and you know then that it is not only a matter of preference in style, but has deep and wide-ranging theological implications.

Or, to quote one of my favorite philosophers, Hank Hill, concerning modern cultural attitudes towards worship: "Can't you see you're not making Christianity better, you're just making rock'n'roll worse."

In wisdom, let us attend.

 

[Deadworm]

dzheremi, "Or, to quote one of my favorite philosophers, Hank Hill, concerning modern cultural attitudes towards worship: "Can't you see you're not making Christianity better, you're just making rock'n'roll worse."

Actually, the best of modern praise choruses are both musically and lyrically superior to most traditional hymns. As a pastor, I noticed that even my older members recognized this and could no longer tolerate a merely traditional service to complement our earlier exclusively t emporary service. So our traditional service need to be blended. The problem is that most contemporary churches use too many choruses that are highly repetitive and and feature very shallow jargonized lyrics.

Here are 3 typical examples of praise choruses that we sang that are musically and lyrically superior to most traditional hymns:

(1) Who Am I?": I know of no traditional hymn that surpasses the beauty of longing of this celebration of God's matchless grace:

Wnom am I? youtube chorus - Bing video

(2) "Better than a Hallelujah" has very unique and powerful lyrics about God's compassion:

better than a Hallelujah youtube - Bing

(3) "Revelation Song:" Notice how thousands of young people are lost in praise and worship at the sound of the incredibly beautiful lyrics of this chorus:

revelation song youtube - Bing

 

[Jackson Cooper]

dzheremi, "Or, to quote one of my favorite philosophers, Hank Hill, concerning modern cultural attitudes towards worship: "Can't you see you're not making Christianity better, you're just making rock'n'roll worse."

Actually, the best of modern praise choruses are both musically and lyrically superior to most traditional hymns. As a pastor, I noticed that even my older members recognized this and could no longer tolerate a merely traditional service to complement our earlier exclusively t emporary service. So our traditional service need to be blended. The problem is that most contemporary churches use too many choruses that are highly repetitive and and feature very shallow jargonized lyrics.

Here are 3 typical examples of praise choruses that we sang that are musically and lyrically superior to most traditional hymns:

(1) Who Am I?": I know of no traditional hymn that surpasses the beauty of longing of this celebration of God's matchless grace:

Wnom am I? youtube chorus - Bing video

(2) "Better than a Hallelujah" has very unique and powerful lyrics about God's compassion:

better than a Hallelujah youtube - Bing

(3) "Revelation Song:" Notice how thousands of young people are lost in praise and worship at the sound of the incredibly beautiful lyrics of this chorus:

revelation song youtube - Bing

Well, that's your taste.

 

[Stabat Mater dolorosa]

Well, that's your taste.

Well said.

 

[StephieLuv]

Title says it all. I don't see too many people who are between the ages of 15 and 25.
Anybody else have this issue?

Yes! I go to a Church of Christ and the place is full old people and little kids. I don't think they have plans for changing things up to stay with the times any time soon. They really need to get with the times or this church will not last much longer.

 

[Mr. Lobster]

As a 26 year old returning to the faith, I've found the same thing.

Western civilisation seem's to be rejecting it's traditions at an alarming rate, for a while I've been guilty of this too. I blame the sexual revolution for this, but that might be controversial here.

I can only suggest trying other churches where you live. Chances are it'll be the same there, but you may prospect gold and find a young adults community. All the best.

 

[grasping the after wind]

Thee problem as I see it is that churches try to draw that age group with entertainment rather than with substance.

 

[Tokitee]

Yeah, I notice with my church too when I started attending. It has a big crowd, but only three people in their twenties besides me.

 

[BNR32FAN]

Title says it all. I don't see too many people who are between the ages of 15 and 25.
Anybody else have this issue?

Well the average life span is about 70 years old so yeah only about 1/7th of the population would be likely to fall into that age span. Not to mention many people actually don’t find The Lord until later in life. So I think it is pretty common for 15-25 to be a smaller number of followers.

 

[Newtheran]

That's true of most churches that lack a talented praise team with a good bass, guitar player, and drummer. Let me guess: your church still uses their obsolete organ and/ or piano and sings traditional hymns? A death knell in contemporary culture! Why would young couples with children attend any church that lacks a vibrant youth program and Sunday school, if they have that option in other more contemporary styled churches?

Maybe because church should be about conforming yourself to God, not conforming worship to VH1 or MTV.

 

[MariaJLM]

Mine is like that too. Everybody my age is married with a family and then there's me.

 

[MariaJLM]

That's true of most churches that lack a talented praise team with a good bass, guitar player, and drummer. Let me guess: your church still uses their obsolete organ and/ or piano and sings traditional hymns? A death knell in contemporary culture! Why would young couples with children attend any church that lacks a vibrant youth program and Sunday school, if they have that option in other more contemporary styled churches?

Actually, young people are being more drawn to traditional methods of worship. Millennials Like Traditional Religion | Wyatt Graham

 

[Andrew77]

Title says it all. I don't see too many people who are between the ages of 15 and 25.
Anybody else have this issue?

I changed churches when that was the case.

 

[Sir Robbins]

That's true of most churches that lack a talented praise team with a good bass, guitar player, and drummer. Let me guess: your church still uses their obsolete organ and/ or piano and sings traditional hymns? A death knell in contemporary culture! Why would young couples with children attend any church that lacks a vibrant youth program and Sunday school, if they have that option in other more contemporary styled churches?

this made me laugh hard..... Most millennials actually prefer tradition over the "band" look and sound. Multiple surveys have proven this.

That age gap absence is in my area too.

 

[Andrew77]

That's true of most churches that lack a talented praise team with a good bass, guitar player, and drummer. Let me guess: your church still uses their obsolete organ and/ or piano and sings traditional hymns? A death knell in contemporary culture! Why would young couples with children attend any church that lacks a vibrant youth program and Sunday school, if they have that option in other more contemporary styled churches?

What bothers me about that, is that if you are going to church simply because of the music and band....

Are you really going there for the Lord, or are you going there to be entertained? Are you going there, because it's the only free rock concert in town?

I'm asking this, because I have gone to some churches that rock'd it out... and everyone seems very happy, and it is very vibrant... and it was also completely dead.

The people there sang songs, danced with the music, and went out living no different than the pagans. Out side of that church, those people lived like they had no idea what the Bible was, or what G-d expected of them.

So... while I understand what people say on this matter, and keeping with the times, and being relevant in a modern culture...... I just am not entirely convinced attracting people with a band, is the solution.

There is no question that having a rocking contemporary music service will attract more people.... but is getting them to show up, the same as getting them to live a Christian life?