The warning comes from Matt Markins, head of the child discipleship organization Awana.
For most people, their worldview formation is “largely fixed” by age 13, according to findings conducted by the Barna Group. That’s why Markins believes strongly that worldview formation is not “a youth group conversation” in high school, but rather he says, “this is a child formation conversation” and a “canary in the coal mine.”
Markins told The Christian Post, “The Church looks to the canary in the coal mine as the high school dropout rate [when] students walk away from the Church after high school. But the purpose of the canary in the coal mine isn’t the moment the canary falls over, it’s what deadly gas led to that and where did it come from?”
Markins added, “If we’re looking at age 18 as the deadline, we’re actually looking at the wrong deadline. It’s not 18, it’s 13. Churches really need to be investing in children, because it’s what we’re doing with the 8-year-olds that is forming what’s going to become the 13-year-olds.”
Another research finding Markins found significant was how 39% of children reported having at least one adult at their church apart from their parents who “knows them, loves them and cares for them.”
Markins said these children, compared to those who did not report having at least one caring adult at church, fared better on matters like “Bible engagement, serving in the church, feeling like they belong to the church, and continuing to follow Christ in the years ahead.”