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Home » Parenting » Keeping Faith in College: Helping Your Young Adults

Keeping Faith in College: Helping Your Young Adults

College-bound kids and their faith have never been more threatened. Starting college unprepared and alone is a no longer a viable option. As a parent, now you can positively shape your young adult before they leave for college, make sure they are already connected in community long before they arrive. Resources like Every Student Sent, will equip your kids to be prepared, find community and face challenges.

“A screaming comes across the sky.” The opening line of Thomas Pynchon’s novel, Gravity’s Rainbow foretells the impact of v-2 rockets on hundreds of characters against the backdrop of World War II. However, this first sentence can describe many things. In reflection, I find that it describes my first few weeks of college quite well. It didn’t take long for me to discover that defending and keeping my faith in college required my careful attention to the screaming coming across my college experience.

If you’re a parent of a soon-to-be college student, you’ve likely heard anecdotes of how universities employ faculty committed to the destruction of your child’s Christian faith. Maybe you’ve even warned your children of the opposition to Christianity across college campuses.

College-bound kids and their faith have never been more threatened. Current trends among graduating high schoolers reveals a sharp decline in continued faith once they arrive on campus. Even the most committed young believer will have their convictions challenged during their college experience.

As a parent, you can positively shape your young adult before they leave for college. Understanding more about available opportunities for your college-bound kids will equip them to arrive to college prepared to find community and face challenges. As you do your research, consider your child’s personality, interests, and goals. Think about their struggles and potential pitfalls within their upcoming college experience.

Doing this with community would have been much easier.  A Navigators study showed that the friends a student makes during first 72 hours on campus often determines the trajectory of his or her faith.  Prior connection is essential. Now students can join a community today with Christian friends and leaders at their future college with Every Student Sent.

YouTube video

Christian Faith in College

Once your child steps foot on their college campus, the number of influences vying for their attention exponentially increases. Between class, community, and a collection of political, social, and cultural organizations, your child will have countless options for how to spend their time.

Unfortunately, many habits of their life before college become causalities to increased freedom, other interests, and an overall decrease in godly influences. According to multiple research studies,  more than two-thirds (66%) of young adults stopped attending church between the ages of 18-22. Additionally, this study focuses on young adults that attended church regularly for at least a year in high school.

When asked about the main reason for their church departure, 34% of respondents cited moving to college as the primary motivation. Another 32% pointed to a consistent theme of hypocrisy or judgement from church members.

This data reveals a glaring shift in church attendance among college-aged kids. It’s clear that previous commitment to church attendance drastically shifts during the college years.  However, what’s not so clear is why.

Sure, some college students might reference a poor experience with a church member. In other cases, they describe a schedule that simply doesn’t have room for church. Further still, there are a handful that are completely done with trying church.

Citing these reasons and more, one ministry works harder than ever to reverse the trend of departure from attending church among college-bound kids.

Raising Your Kids to Defend Their Faith

“Raising Your Kids to Defend Their Faith” is a series of five short videos that'll help get you started in teaching your kids the fundamentals of Christianity, so they can understand it, explain it, and defend it.

Every Student Sent: Keeping Faith in College

Keeping one’s faith in college has never been more important. This belief is at the core of Every Student Sent. A rapidly growing ministry effort, Every Student Sent exists to “create and catalyze united movements that transform college campuses for Christ.”

Every Student Sent focuses on uniting students, campus ministries, and local churches together to achieve this mission. However, the beauty of Every Student Sent’s design is that you don’t have to wait until you’re on campus to begin building your community. Here are a few highlights of Every Student Sent:

  • Before students even arrive on campus, they can connect with local churches and ministries at their future school.
  • Every Student Sent features a social media platform to help future students connect with other Christians. Also, your college-bound kid can even find a roommate at their future school.
  • For parents, there’s an online view where you can login separately from your college kid. Then, you can search for specific ministries, connect with other parents at your child’s school, and even meet local pastors around the college.
  • Every Student Sent also offers resources to minimize college debt, prepare for ACT/SAT testing, and begin effective career planning.
  • Finally, there’s an opportunity for students who want to create and lead a Christian community at their school. Eager students can become mobilizers to partner with Every Student Sent to grow involvement at their future school even before they arrive on campus.

If you’d like to continue to explore what Every Student Sent has to offer, click here. Start searching for ministry connections and opportunities for your college kids today. 

YouTube video

Community in College

Keeping the Christian faith in college is more difficult in isolation. To return to the opening line of Thomas Pynchon’s novel. The “screaming across the sky” in the book’s world instantly causes separation, division, and confusion among the characters. It’s the same story with keeping faith in college.

Among the various threats to keeping faith in college, isolation from community is perhaps the most subtle, yet the most detrimental.

In Hebrews, the author describes the negative impact of poor community: “Exhort one another every day, as long as it called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13). 

Without Christian community, the deceitfulness of sin grows more influential. For your college kid to successfully keep his or her faith they desperately need a strong community.

  • As his or her parent, you can begin to build a strong foundation before they arrive on campus.
  • Then, while they begin their freshmen year, commit to praying for God to guide their path towards Christian community.
  • As a practical step, consider how you can check-in with your college child in a non-invasive way.
  • Show your continued interest in their college experience beyond grades and class.

Final Thoughts on Keeping Faith in College

There’s no greater opportunity to discover the depth of one’s commitment to Christ than to face challenges. For your college-bound kid, the challenges are quickly approaching. Unfortunately, these challenges might not always be easy to spot or overcome.

Yet, you have the chance to continue to build a strong foundation of Christian community and friends to help your college kid once they begin college. Losing faith in college doesn’t usually happen all at once. It occurs in small moments that add up over time. So, as your young adult begins their college journey commit to setting them up for a healthy relationship with Christ.

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