A forum for teens to bolster their faith

The trend is known as the “Great Evacuation,” and the statistics are startling to youth ministers.

Studies have shown at least 50 percent — and possibly as much as 85 percent — of kids involved in church groups will abandon their faith during their first year in college.

In an attempt to reverse those numbers, Focus on the Family on Saturday hosted “The Big Dig,” a conference aimed at teens and youth leaders. The goal was not just to celebrate participants’ Christian faith but also to give them the tools to defend their beliefs against questions they will face.

Such apologetics conferences fly in the face of a long-held belief that the way to minister to teens is to wow them with hipness, said Alex McFarland, organizer of the event. But, as 1,600 kids and leaders from as far as Jamaica learned historical evidence of Jesus and defense of the Bible, he said this more academic method seemed to be working.

“We don’t have trampolines, we don’t have magicians, we don’t have paintball ranges . . . and here are kids from across the USA,” McFarland said. “Young people have a hunger to know who is God.”

Reasons are multiple for the religious falloff by freshmen, said Bob Waliszewski, Focus’ interim youth outreach director. Some leave churches because they find their beliefs incompatible with moral failings they have, while others have no answers for professors who question their faith.

The conference featured nationally known speakers such as Lee Strobel, a former journalist and atheist who found his belief while trying to disprove the existence of God. Other topics of discussion included the existence of moral absolutes and the difficulty of being an atheist while examining the world.

Students also frequented a hangout lounge with coffee and music in Focus’ main building, and a Christian band played for them Friday night.

McFarland met one 13-yearold middle-schooler who reads theology books and asked for recommendations on historical research into Jesus.

Such a kid is not likely to join the mass of students leaving their faith as soon as they leave home — a statement true of many other attendees, McFarland admitted. But part of the goal for the weekend is to “influence the influencers” who will interact with the students that the conference cannot reach, he said.

Tim Barton, a Monument ninth-grader who attends Calvary Chapel Castle Rock, said he was able to learn things at the conference in a way he hadn’t before.

Marissa Rodriguez, a Castle Rock 11th-grader from the same church, added that knowing a factual and scientific basis for her faith is needed for when she talks with skeptics.

“I have a lot of friends who aren’t Christians, and they don’t tend to listen to me,” she said. “This will help a lot with that.”

Although further conferences are forthcoming, no immediate follow-up is set to see if the teens who attended Saturday can keep their faiths in college, Waliszewski said. Participants did write letters with goals to themselves that they will receive in six months, though, he said.

Charlie Keys, a youth pastor from Borger, Texas, said he witnessed some unexpected reactions from the 19 kids he’d brought to the conference. Some took the sessions in quietly while others said they were challenged to explore their faith, but all seemed to enjoy the equivalent of religious schoolwork on summer break.

“I have some students say: ‘It’s been so amazing. I learned this or I learned that that I really didn’t know,’” Keys said.

CONTACT THE WRITER: (303) 837-0613 or ed.sealover@gazette.com