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▶ No family worship , intentional plan , or training by the church . “ A majority of parents do not spend any time during a typical week discussing religious matters or studying religious materials with their children . . . parents typically have no plan for the spiritual development of their children ; do not consider it a priority , have little or no training in how to nurture a child ’ s faith .” 1
▶ Grandparents are minimized and marginalized . Less than 25 % understand their biblical role ; few churches equip grandparents to disciple the next generation .
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▶ Infrequent church attendance . The average child attends an evangelical megachurch fewer than two times per month . 2 Lifeway Research 3 and the Barna Group 4 found that two-thirds of young people drop out of church by their early adult years .
▶ Strong media and educational influence . The average young person logs over 7 hours of screen time per day and 16,000 educational hours between K-12 . “ Children will be in school 60 times as much as in church .” 5
▶ Biblical worldview is low . While 68 % of Americans identify as Christian , only 4 % have a biblical worldview , and only 2 % of pre-teen parents have a biblical worldview , according to research by George Barna . 6
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▶ Theological confusion about church and family . The church operates with a church-centered , familysupported model rather than a family-centered , church-supported approach . |
“ God ’ s plan was for the church to support the family , and for the family to be the front line of ministry within the home .” |
▶ Church-Centered |
▶ Home-Supported |
▶ Home-Centered |
▶ Church-Supported |
30 THE RENEWANATION REVIEW |