Abstract:
This research was done to find out why the youth desert church at teenage. The
objective was to find out the role of the foundations laid at Sunday school level, the
role of parents and the kind of programs that appeal to the youth. Grounded theory was
chosen for the research. Nine teenagers were interviewed, five of who were active and
four who were inactive in church programs. Six youth leaders were involved in the
focus group discussion. It emerged that poor input by the church leaders in
establishing appropriate programs and training teachers for this age group led to them
leaving the church. Other factors had to do with the senior youth's attitude towards the
teenagers, lack of sufficient parental support and negative influence from peers.
The research established that despite the good foundation laid in Sunday
school, more needs to be done to maintain the teenagers in church. The parents and the church leaders ought to play a more active role to motivate the youth to remain active
in church. The youth need to be fully involved, their talents recognized and used
within the church for them to remain active. It was recommended that the youth group
be reorganized taking into consideration their age brackets and more interesting and
involving activities should be included in the programs.
