180 Symposium Publications
Document Type
Contribution to Book
Publication Date
2009
Abstract
Valuegenesis has been a tremendous tool that has given the Seventh-day Adventist church valuable information about youth and young adults. It represents a fair cross-section culturally and ethnically of our young people. However, the sample is of 16,000 respondents of Seventh-day Adventist Youth in Seventh-day Adventist schools throughout the North American Division during the 2000 school year (Gillespie, 2004). The majority of the expenses are borne by local parents and churches (Gillespie, 2004). Sixty percent of the students said there was a youth pastor at their home church (Gillespie, 2004). Monte Sahlin’s work in Adventist Congregations Today, says most Adventist churches are quite small. Worship attendance on a typical Sabbath is 75 or less. Only 17% have an attendance of more than 200 on a typical Sabbath. This means that the Valuegenesis sample represents a small slice of our youth who come from middle or uppermiddle income families, attend churches that are larger than the average church, and have a church school and a youth pastor. It also means that the analysis of their faith development is somewhat skewed. Unlike most homes, they receive Biblical training from their parents, a pastor each week, a youth pastor, and a Bible teacher in their school. The 16,000 young people who attend Adventist schools represent one-third of all the youth and young adults in the Seventh-day Adventist church. I would contend that Valuegenesis does not sample the average typical young person in the Seventh-day Adventist church.
First Page
129
Last Page
138
Book Title
Ministering with Millennials: A Complete Report on the 180° Symposium
Editor
Roger L. Dudley with Allan Walshe
Publisher
Advent Source
City
Lincoln, NE
Series
The 180° Symposium
ISBN
9781577565307
Recommended Citation
Nixon, Timothy P., "Where Have All the Youth Leaders Gone?" (2009). 180 Symposium Publications. 70.
https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/cye-pubs/70
Acknowledgements
Posed with permission, Center for Youth Evangelism at Andrews University