In a message delivered to hundreds gathered at City Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee, earlier this month for the One Hundred Years 30th Anniversary Celebration and Gala, John Stonestreet, president of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, warned that young people today are “untethered” from the truth and disconnected from meaning and purpose.
Stonestreet told the audience, “Students today, they need, first of all, to hear the truth.”
He quoted a British survey conducted over a decade that found 13 years ago, 90% of young people aged 18-28 believed that life had meaning. However, when the same question was asked 10 years later, only 10% of respondents reportedly felt that life had meaning, indicating a significant drop in the sense of purpose among young people.
The answer he says is the reintroduction of truth through intergenerational relationships and mentoring.
Stonestreet’s address brought attention to One Hundred Years‘ two strategic initiatives, the Youth Leader Collective, and the Pray for Me Campaign, a church-led program designed to foster prayerful support for children and students.
Over the last decade, the Pray for Me Campaign has collaborated with more than 800 churches from various denominations in 47 states, creating over 160,000 cross-generational relationships.