The Rainers’ work confirms these suspicions! It’s always nice to have books that confirm your suspicions, especially if they seem to offer some way forward! Hopefully we’ve grown tired of complaints that never result in ACTION.

To be sure, this work focuses on the people who drop out in their teenage years (18-22) and it discusses the means that might be used to prevent this occurrence.  Most pastors though will immediately see how the material relates to their whole congregation despite it’s admitted focus on young adults.

Here’s a sample of the myths debunked -

- “You need a gymnasium to keep the youth”.

- “You need contemporary music”

- “You need to stop preaching ‘doctrinal’ sermons or emphasizing ‘doctrine’”

- “You need more ‘programs’!”

All these, as they point out, are wrong.

Their refrain throughout the book is that churches seeking to avoid “dropouts” need to:

Simplify – develop a clear structure and process for making disciples.

Deepen – provide strong biblical teaching and preaching.

Expect – let members know the need for commitment to the congregation.

Multiply – emphasize evangelism, outward focus, and starting new churches.

Increasingly, research like this is showing that virtually all the “prescriptions” given by the “Megachurch” promoters were empty and now these King Kong monstrosities are having to pump cement to firm up the shaky foundations of these organizations.

The solutions go increasingly back to

1. Intentional biblical and doctrinal teaching
2. Authenticity (i.e. forsaking our hypocrisy and “walking the talk”)
3. True fellowship – beyond saying “Hi” if you see another church member in Wal-Mart during the week
4. A sense of greater mission

Most pastors will welcome the message because these are things a church any size can do if they are faithful – not more “Your church would grow if you had a $50,000 sound system with strobe lights and knew hwo to use them” prescriptions.

Where do the catechisms come in? Thankfully this is where pastors from historic churches have an edge… they already have a “track” to “run on”.

Pastors in non-confessional bodies are often at a loss where to start… they can’t even dust off a catechism and say … “We used to do this, let’s at least check this out!”

Unlike the current crop of “emergents” who are in a race to jettison as many points of orthodoxy while simultaneously getting the most “Starbuckscard Rewards” points, the Rainers’ show that you actually avoid young adult drop outs when you are

A. Giving your existing members a biblical and doctrinal foundation
B. Intentionally giving new visitors and new members this same foundation

Before you say that’s “simple” please realize it must not be – it’s not getting done!

So what should you do?

Teach people the Bible so that they have a firm grasp of the Bible from Creation to Christ. One curriculum that can be used is Firm Foundations: Creation to Christ or another system of “Chronological Bible Storytelling”.

Then…

Teach people the Heidelberg Catechism! (Or another orthodox catechism if you choose!)

Create the expectation that sincere Christians will be reading their Bibles, praying, fellowshipping together, and serving the Lord together.

The point is, we should have known, that Christianity flourishes when it is not just the ape of culture but its own counter culture.

If you’re “evangelizing” people, don’t settle for a quick canned presentation. Ask people to enter into a study like “Christianity Explored” but really for serious students, a Bible Study like “Creation to Christ” and even studying through the Heidelberg Catechism are even better.

The point is we dropped the catechism for whatever reasons, but now is the time for its comeback!

The vitality of the Christian faith demands it!