Around 40 million American adults who used to attend church have stopped coming. After 25 years of continual growth, the number of “nones,” or those who claim no religious affiliation, now outnumber the number of people who attend church. It’s a shift that rivals the First and Second Great Awakenings—and among this “Great Dechurching” cohort, Gen Z takes a disproportionately large share.
Or do they? Several reports published in 2025, including one from Barna, indicate Gen Z may be returning to church in a “historic reversal.” But the data is murky: A late 2025 Pew Research Center report finds little evidence of a major change in church attendance. Though there’s real religious excitement among Gen Z adults, data scientist Ryan Burge observes, “We will eventually become a country that is 40-to-45 percent ‘nones.’”
How are pastors, especially those who work with children and teenagers, supposed to minister in such a pivotal moment in American history? We must first accept a hard truth: We cannot continue to do children’s and youth ministry as we’ve done them and expect different results from today.
Keeping Kids Christian: Recovering a Biblical Vision for Lifelong Discipleship by Cameron S. Shaffer, senior pastor of Langhorne Presbyterian Church, offers a compelling blueprint for generational ministry in an age where people are abandoning institutions. It’s a vision that emphasizes the importance of the church, families, and intergenerational relationships in a culture more isolated, lonely, and disconnected than ever.
Ordinary Means
Too often, pastors begin with how they’ll do ministry and try to back into why. Shaffer challenges us to reverse this order and begin with our theological convictions. We must start with our beliefs about how God saves and work outward from these beliefs to how we’ll put them into practice in our churches. In the face of an everchanging, liquid modernity, we must remember that God doesn’t change. His means of justifying and sanctifying his people haven’t changed either.
One of Shaffer’s key beliefs is that God has designed the family as a primary avenue for passing down the faith to the next generation. God’s charge to Israel at Mount Sinai that they should “teach [his words] diligently to [their] children” isn’t a temporary arrangement (Deut. 6:7).
God has designed the family as a primary avenue for passing down the faith to the next generation.
Throughout Scripture, we’re told (Proverbs, Ephesians, 1 John) or shown (Judges, 1–2 Kings, Acts) that fathers and mothers are the leading influence on their children’s faith, for good or ill.
Shaffer is Presbyterian and explicitly argues that “the church needs to treat its kids as Christians” (35). Nevertheless, those who hold to believers-only baptism can agree that the family’s influence shapes an individual’s faith before, during, and long after he or she participates in any church program.
Yet kids without Christian parents aren’t without hope. Shaffer reminds us that God has designed cross-generational relationships in the church to meet this need. Those who leave their biological family behind to follow Christ will receive new fathers, mothers, sisters, and brothers (Matt. 19:29).
A web of thick, healthy relationships between older and younger Christians in the church gives kids a place to belong and adults a catalyst to live sanctified lives for others to imitate. The “communion of saints” isn’t just a core belief of Christianity; it’s a foundational practice for how we minister to each other, including to our children.
Challenges of Church Culture
Shaffer’s blueprint is well tailored to small-to-medium-sized churches. Pastors at large churches, however, may balk when Shaffer remarks, “The prioritization of [standard youth and children’s ministry programs] fueled the great dechurching” (19). As churches grow in size and complexity, healthy church operations are vital to ensure pastors care for their people well. Programs often become a necessary backbone for stable ministry.
Shaffer isn’t opposed to programs in absolute terms. He’s really arguing “they should be downgraded in importance and treated as risky for faith retention” (19). While still critical, he’s making a case for caution that’s supported by anecdotal and empirical evidence.
A healthier model for ministry to young people emphasizes the primacy of the ordinary means of grace and the family’s centrality in discipleship. Departing from “the way we’ve always done it” can be scary. But it opens doors for creative ministry that equips parents with tools and training for discipling their families. That approach packs a much bigger punch than participation in a highly polished program for two hours on Wednesday night.
Shaffer offers suggestions for how children’s and youth ministry can complement parent-equipping generational ministry, such as how to incorporate children into Sunday worship without overwhelming parents or children. He also suggests prioritizing hiring staff for the men’s and women’s ministries before growing the staff for youth and children’s programs. Strategic discipleship of parents is important.
Courage to Change
Change is difficult, especially when it comes to raising kids. At first, an exhortation to parent-equipping generational ministry might feel like an attack on parents. Shaffer recognizes the challenge of leading change, especially in something as deeply personal as parenting. Moving too quickly might convince parents they’re failing and should rely on the experts.
But that’s exactly what Shaffer is trying to avoid. Therefore, he encourages a cautious approach to change, beginning with deep prayer and involving careful conversation over time.
Shaffer encourages a cautious approach to change, beginning with deep prayer and involving careful conversation over time.
Shaffer’s suggestions for implementing his approach are helpful but a little abstract. I’d love to see churches that implement this vision share their results, especially what did and didn’t work. Proven case studies would help busy pastors figure out how to adopt the family-centric approach.
Everyone leading ministries for youth and children wants kids to become healthy Christians. Yet Shaffer is right that some popular ministry approaches have lost their focus on deep discipleship as they’ve tried to broaden participation. A well-leveraged, family-centric approach is an effective way to make discipleship the main emphasis of our ministry to young people. As C. S. Lewis writes, “Put first things first and we get second things thrown in: put second things first & we lose both first and second things.”
Cultural trends like the Great Dechurching and deconstruction threaten to draw young people away from the Christian faith. Shaffer wants to help churches and families cultivate deep gospel roots. Keeping Kids Christian offers a powerful vision for putting discipleship first in our ministry to the next generation.
The Gospel Coalition