WHY CHURCHES OF CHRIST SHOULD BE CONCERNED ABOUT CAMPUS MINISTRIES

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WHY CHURCHES OF CHRISTSHOULD BE CONCERNEDABOUT
CAMPUS MINISTRIES

• Wes Woodell, Into All the Ethnos The Case for
  Evangelistic Campus Ministry Plants, in Church
  Growth, Vol.23, No.2 Second Quarter, 2008, pages
  5-8.
• Flavil Yeakley, Good News and Bad News A
  Realistic Assessment of Churches of Christ in the
  United States, 2008.

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CHRISTIAN HIGHER EDUCATION FOUNDATION

• Abilene Christian University, Abilene, TX
• Cascade College, Portland, OR
• Crowleys Ridge College, Paragould, AR
• Faulkner University, Montgomery, AL
• Freed-Hardeman University, Henderson, TN
• Harding University, Searcy, AR
• Heritage Christian University, Florence, AL
• Lipscomb University, Nashville, TN
• Lubbock Christian University, Lubbock, TX
• Magnolia Bible College, Kosciusko, MS

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Christian Higher Education Foundation (Continued)

• Ohio Valley University, Vienna, WV
• Oklahoma Christian University,
• Oklahoma City, OK
• Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA
• Regions University, Montgomery, AL
• Rochester College, Rochester Hills, MI
• Southwestern Christian College,
• Terrell, TX
• York College, York, NE
• And others world-wide

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MAJOR PARTS OF THE STUDY

• Cluster Sampling of Congregations
• Every church with an email address--plus
• Initial Mailing to over 3,000 churches
• Cluster Sample 100 congregations
• Reports on Recent High School Graduates,
  1997-2006
• Data on 4,933 Individuals
  
• 
  
• Survey of 3,266 Students at 11 Christian
• colleges and universities
• Survey of 2,058 Alumni at 11 Christian colleges
  and
• universities plus 2,523 alumni in a follow-up
  study
• Survey of Campus Ministries at
• Public Colleges and Universities
• Still in progress

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The questions we asked about the members of these
congregations who graduated from high school in
the past ten years (1997-2006)

• Are they still members of your congregation or of
  another congregation of the Churches of Christ?
• If not, have they joined some other religious
  group or do they just have no current religious
  affiliation?
• What is their marital status?
• Do they have any church leadership or service
  roles?
• Did they attend college?
• If so, did they attend a Christian college or
  university?

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QUESTIONS OF SPECIAL INTEREST TOADMINISTRATORS
AT CHRISTIANCOLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

• How many young people in Churches of Christ
  graduate from high school in the United States
  each year?
• How many of these attend college?
• How many of those who attend college attend a
  Christian college or university?
• What are the differences between those who attend
  a private Christian college or university and
  those who attend some other kind of school?

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People Who May Have Trouble Believing the Results
of this Research

• Some who want change may find it hard to believe
  that things are not as bad as they have claimed.
• Some who do not want change may find it hard to
  believe that things are not as good as they have
  claimed.
• Some focus on a few cases that they have observed
  and may find it hard to believe that what they
  have observed may not be representative of
  churches throughout the nation.

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• U.S. Population Norms
• In the average year, 1.0 of the U.S. population
  graduates from high school.
• Almost two-thirds (64.3) of those who graduate
  from high school in the United States attend
  college.
• Norms for Sample in Churches of Christ
• Among Churches of Christ in the United States in
  the average year, 1.0 of the adherents graduate
  from high school. (AdherentsMembers plus
  children not yet old enough to be baptized)
• Among Churches of Christ in the United States in
  the average year, 80 of the members who graduate
  from high school go on to attend college.

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Estimated Number of High School Graduatesand
College-Bound High School Graduatesamong all
Churches of Christ in the U.S.

• College-Bound
• All high school high
  school
• Year graduates
  graduates
• 1997 16,471
  13,117
• 1998 16,466 13,173
• 1999 16,461 13,169
• 2000 16,456 13,165
• 2001 16,493 13,194
• 2002 16,530 13,224
• 2003 16,567 13,254
• 2004 16,510 13,208
• 2005 16,542 13,234
• 2006 16,395 13,116

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Mainstream Churches of ChristA Definition

• In Churches of Christ throughout the United
  States, 75 of the congregations with 80 of the
  members and 87 of the adherents are similar
  enough to one another that no significant
  barriers to fellowship among them.
• Most of the entering freshmen at Christian
  colleges and universities come from these
  mainstream congregations.

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Estimated Number of High School Graduatesand
College-Bound High School Graduatesin
Mainstream Churches of Christin the United
States

• College-Bound
• All high school high school
• Year graduates graduates
• 1997 14,363 11,490
• 1998 14,358 11,486
• 1999 14,354 11,483
• 2000 14,350 11,480
• 2001 14,384 11,507
• 2002 14,418 11,534
• 2003 14,451 11,561
• 2004 14,404 11,523
• 2005 14,357 11,486
• 2006 14,309 11,447

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• In a study of 4,993 recent high school graduates
  among Churches of Christ in the United States
• 19.8 did not attend college
• 31.4 attended a Christian college/university
• 48.8 attended some other kind of school.
• Therefore, almost two-thirds (62.5) of the
  college-bound high school graduates in Churches
  of Christ in the United States attended some
  other kind of school.
• More than one-third (37.5) of the college-bound
  high school graduates in Churches of Christ in
  the United States attended a Christian college or
  university.
• That is a lot more than the figure of 15 that we
  have often heard!

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The Size of the Entering Freshman Class at
Christian Colleges and Universities with the
Number and Percentage of those from Churches of
Christ

• Number of Number Percent
• Entering from from
• Year Freshmen CofC CofC
• 1997 5,820 3,664 63.0
• 1998 5,882 3,757 63.9
• 1999 6,219 4,351 70.0
• 2000 6,643 4,411 66.4
• 2001 6,636 4,461 67.2
• 2002 6,351 4,060 63.9
• 2003 6,164 4,034 65.4
• 2004 6,299 4,209 66.8
• 2005 6,553 4,175 63.7
• 2006 6,331 4,029 63.6

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The number of high school graduates from Churches
of Christ who actually enrolled in a Christian
college or university, 1997-2006, was almost
exactly what would have been predicted on the
basis of the data on the 4,993 members of the 100
congregations in this cluster sample!That is
good evidence for the validity of that cluster
sample.
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Estimates of Retention Rates among Churches of
Christ in the USA

• A survey by Lewis, Dodd and Tippens in the early
  1990s
• 55 stay in Churches of Christ
• 45 drop out
• Congregational assessments by Yeakley over the
  past 30 years
• 55 stay in Churches of Christ
• 33 drop out and never return
• 12 drop out when they leave home, but
  return after they marry and have children
• Present study of 4,993 recent high school
  graduates in Churches of Christ
• 58.2 stay in Churches of Christ
• 21.1 join some other religious group
• 20.7 have no current religious affiliation

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• College Experience Retention Rate
• --------------------------------------------------
  ---------
• 19.8 Did not attend college 43.4
• 31.4 Attended a Christian
• college or university 90.0
• 8.8 Attended a public college
• or university 49.7
• 85 stopped attending church services when they
  enrolled in a public college or university but
  over one-third (36.2) started attending church
  services again after they graduated.

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• Church Background Retention Rate
• Much more liberal (7.5) 39.4
• 374
• A little more liberal (15.2) 55.2
• 759
• Moderate (54.2) 62.0
• 2,706
• A little more
• conservative (16.1) 58.0
• 804
• Much more
• Conservative (7.0) 39.9
• 350

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Where the Drop-Outs Go

• Church Other No
• Background Affiliation Affiliation
• Much more
• Liberal 75.2 24.8
• A little more
• Liberal 66.6 33.4
• Moderate 47.2 52.2
• A little more
• Conservative 32.1 67.9
• Much more
• Conservative 24.8 75.2

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GROUPS RANKED BY RETENTION RATESIN CHURCHES OF
CHRIST

• 1st Those who attended a Christian college or
  university and very soon became actively
  involved in a local church.
• 2nd Those who attended some other kind of school
  but very soon became actively involved in a
  local church and in a Campus Ministry if
  Churches of Christ had such a ministry at the
  school they attended.
• 3rd Those who attended a Christian college or
  university but did not become actively involved
  in a local church.

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Survey of Campus Ministry Leaders

• Used the Campus Ministry United mailing list but
  found that several were little more than Sunday
  morning college-age Bible classes.
• Responses received from 60 thus far.
• Name of campus ministry
• Sponsoring congregation(s)
• Size of congregation most students attend
• School(s) where campus ministry operates

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• Number of Students Involved
• Average 47.6
• Total 2,856 in 60 campus ministries
• Focus of Ministry
• Evangelistic Outreach 3.3
• Keeping Christians Faithful 20.0
• A balance of both 76.7
• But few showed much evidence of evangelism.

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Number of Baptisms in Previous Year

• No baptism at all 35
• 33 in CMU Survey
• Fewer than three baptisms 65
• 62.6 in CMU Survey
• Average 2.35 baptisms per campus ministry for a
  total of 141 baptisms

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How many of these were re-baptisms of people
previously baptized in Churches of Christ?

• Although such re-baptisms were common in the
  Crossroads/Boston Discipling Movement, that was
  not the case in this survey of campus ministry
  leaders.
• Only two of the 141 reported baptisms involved
  someone previously baptized in the Churches of
  Christ.

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Distribution by Classification

• Freshmen 26.7
• Sophomore 20.8
• Junior 22.1
• Senior 21.0
• Graduate 9.4
• Decline by classification matched enrollment
  percentages at the schools.

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More Survey Questions

• What percent of students involved in campus
  ministry activities are not members of the
  Churches of Christ? Average 29 Range 0-98
• --------------------------------------------------
  ----
• How is your campus ministry conducted?
• All volunteer leaders 18
• One part-time leader 5
• One full-time campus minister 55
• More than one full-time or part-time
• campus minister 22
• --------------------------------------------------
  --------
• How many members of the Churches of Christ attend
  the school where your ministry works, but do not
  participate in the campus ministry? ???

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Survey of Students Involved in Campus Ministry
Activities

• Member of Churches of Christ before you enrolled
  in this school? Yes 86 No 14
• Present religious affiliation?
• 87 list Churches of Christ.
• There must have been at least one campus ministry
  convert who took this survey.

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Levels of Church Involvement

• Campus Christian School
• Ministry Students Alumni
• --------------------------------------------------
  --------------------------------------------------
  --------------------------------------------------
  ----------------------
• Still a member of
• home congregation
• or placed membership
• with area church 18.0 25.2 31.2
• --------------------------------------------------
  --------------------------------------------------
  --------------------------------------------------
  ----------------------
• Never placed membership
• but attend one
• area church 24.0 52.5 39.8
• --------------------------------------------------
  --------------------------------------------------
  --------------------------------------------------
  ---------------------
• Visit various area
• churches regularly 53.0 15.0 27.4
• --------------------------------------------------
  --------------------------------------------------
  --------------------------------------------------
  ---------------------
• Visit various area
• churches occasionally 4.0 6.5 2.6
• --------------------------------------------------
  --------------------------------------------------
  --------------------------------------------------
  ---------------------
• Do not attend church

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Relative Importance of Reasons for Selecting the
School that You Attend

• The meaning of the Means
• 4.50-4.00 The most important reason
• 3.50-4.49 A very important reason
• 2.50-3.49 A relatively important reason
• 1.50-2.49 A minor consideration
• 1.00-1.49 Not a factor in my decision

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Divorce Rates

• Among all those who graduated from high school in
  the United States in the past ten years, 8.1
  have already married and divorced.
• But among members of the Churches of Christ who
  graduated from high school in the past ten years,
  only 4.2 have already married and divorced.
• Among members of the Churches of Christ who are
  alumni of Christian colleges and universities
• 22.1 are still single (never married)
• 71.7 are still married to their first spouse
• 5.4 are divorced
• 0.8 are widowed
• So, 77.9 have married and 6.9 of them have
  divorced, but a divorce rate of less than 7.0 is
  far lower than the national average.