"We have too many young families with kids."Most congregations in the US are significantly older than the community around them. The US Congregational Life Survey shows that the average congregation in the US has a median age of 52. That means that half the congregation is 52 or older. I know it's true in my church. I'm in my late 30s, what's left of my hair is starting to turn grey, and I've already got one heart attack in my medical charts. I'm considered one of the young adults in the church.
How can Scouting address this?
When a boy or girl joins scouting, they are thinking about outdoor adventure, games, crafts, and a lot of fun stuff. But why do their parents bring them to scouts, instead of other organizations or activities? The answer is values. These parents are usually looking for their sons and daughters to learn some moral values, which the BSA and GSUSA have been known for for generations.
Your average Cub Scout Pack is around 32 boys. That means you have 32 families there in your church every week. Most of those families are there because they want their son to grow up with good character and values.
In the US, Somewhere between 50 and 60% of families do not have a home church. That means in your church's basement and Sunday School rooms, for an average sized pack, you have about 16 young families with children who do not currently have a home church, but hold moral values as something highly important to them.
These are the ideal people that your church should be reaching out to. But how?
I'll talk about that in a few days
(Note: I borrowed heavily from Mark Hazelwood's Webinar Presentation for PRAY program for this.)
No comments:
Post a Comment