By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer
SHREVEPORT – Steve Parr said he is concerned about a growing problem in the church today – a smaller percentage of young adults getting and staying actively involved.
Once active in church as teens, the number of young adults no longer plugged in after permanently leaving the confines of home is just 1 in 3.
But despite the alarming news, Parr believes he has found a solution to help turn around the statistic in a positive way. Parr shared during Saturday’s Louisiana Baptist Convention ReGroup conference the findings from a survey he conducted in 2015 with fellow Georgia Baptist Convention staff member Tom Crites that identifies why some still remain active in the church into adulthood.
Among those reasons are the mother and father of children demonstrate priorities by serving in the church, love the pastor and have a high view of scripture.
Parr encouraged those in attendance to become active in an area of service at the church, even if it means losing a member of one’s own Bible study to another ministry.
“I believe one of the greatest marks of your effectiveness is not how many are attending your Bible study group but how many you have released to serve in other areas,” said Parr, Vice-President of Staff Coordination and Development for the Georgia Baptist Convention. “I bet in your church right now there is a need for preschool worker. The very first thought should be going through your mind is who should I send. You can attend and never serve. If you serve, you must of necessity attend. Move your members into service.”
Parr stressed to the pastors in attendance at ReGroup the importance of intentionally connecting with children and youth while asking laypeople not to criticize the pastor.
“Who is a pastor to a seven year old?” Parr said. “To a seven year old, the pastor is God’s representative. If a child has difficulty embracing or feeling love for God’s representative, it becomes harder for them to love God. When a child does not like the pastor, they tend to attribute that to pastors (in general).”
He also touched on the importance of parents applying scripture to everyday life.
“Apologetics is more important today than it has ever been,” he said. “So we have to teach why believe it is God’s word.”
Parr was the keynote speaker during the ReGroup conference at Summer Grove Baptist Church in Shreveport, attended by around 350 people from throughout the state. He and others also led breakout sessions for small group leadership in the areas of Sunday school, discipleship, bi-vocational pastors, special needs ministry, recovery and support groups, youth and children.
Darisa Griffith attended ReGroup with others from St. James Baptist Church in Bayou Chico, where she serves as youth pastor.
“We are here at ReGroup trying to regroup and start fresh with new relevant ideas for outreach and evangelism so we can expand the kingdom of God,” she said. “God is doing great things and we want to make sure we are ready for His people in a proper way so we can effectively impact the world.”
Garrett West, sixth grade pastor at Cypress Baptist Church in Benton, enjoyed learning some new ideas from those who are seasoned in various areas of ministry.
“There is a lot of value behind listening to someone else who has been in the trenches and who has learned along the way things you can do and things you need to avoid,” he said. “I think it’s valuable to come in and learn from their experience so that I am better equipped to win others to Christ.”
