180 Symposium Publications
Document Type
Contribution to Book
Publication Date
2009
Abstract
Many Seventh-day Adventist clergy suffer the loss of their adult children to denominational attrition, and their pain is shared throughout the general population of North American Adventist parents. To identify the causative factors and design remedies, I devoted a Doctor of Ministry project involving active and retired clergy couples in the Mid-America Union. A 111-point questionnaire was mailed to each of 222 active and retired clergy who have adult children. Data requested was based on the research question: What influences from Seventh-day Adventist clergy parents in Mid-America may affect whether their children experience attrition from that denomination upon becoming adults? Data collected from the 113 questionnaires returned by clergy parents identified 40 attrition factors, yielding the following summary of conclusions: The most significant factors in avoiding attrition are 1) being able to discuss church problems in the parsonage while also 2) managing to sustain joy and togetherness in the family circle and 3) giving teens freedom to develop their own faith experience without the expectation of being super saints.
First Page
185
Last Page
189
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
Weber, Martin, "Resolving Young Adult Attrition" (2009). 180 Symposium Publications. 77.
https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/cye-pubs/77
Acknowledgements
Posed with permission, Center for Youth Evangelism at Andrews University