Small Group Involvement Declines

According to the latest research put out by Barna, regular involvement faith-related small groups among teens has drastically declined over the last 13 years.

This finding confirms what I’ve been seeing on my current campus over the past 5 years.  In fact, over the course of my 13 years in campus ministry I believe I’ve seen the rise and fall (and in some cases, the rise again) of the ‘big three’ programing elements: worship, small groups and outreach.

According to Barna, small group involvement among teens is the most recent of the ‘big three’ to hit the skids – falling from 30% of teens being regularly involved in some sort of small group, back in 1997, down to just 21% at present.

For a generation that is known to be almost obsessed with community, this seems like an unlikely trend… but I’ve seen it first hand for myself, so sadly, I know it to be true.

I’ll explore some ideas about how we might challenge this trend on our campuses in tomorrow’s post, but for now:

• Have you noticed this trend on your campus?  Do your students struggle to be involved with spiritually-oriented small groups?  Are you concerned?
• What do you think might be at the root of this trend?  Or do you think it’s simply a part of a cycle of growing/fading popularity that is currently in a ‘valley’ place right now for small groups?
• If you’re experiencing great ‘success’ in the area of small groups right now, how might you account for this?  What have your students heard/experienced that has convinced them to be a part of the 21% minority described by Barna?

Thanks for sharing your insight and experiences below!