Context of the Need
Based on his 10-year longitudinal study of 783 Seventh-day Adventist teenagers (1,523 in the original sample), Roger Dudley concluded that "it seems reasonable to believe that at least 40 percent to 50 percent of Seventh-day Adventist teenagers in North America are essentially leaving the church by their middle 20s." In the development of faith, the critical years are
the college years when young adults gain their
first real independence and must move through a period of searching
that leads from a "given faith"
to an "owned faith." During these years of searching and decisions, these students need to be given "a dream and a community." If mature
Christian adults are not available and prepared to provide these, our
young adults will find their dream and community outside of the
Christian faith.
Of SDA young adults in college, about 50 percent attend Adventist colleges/universities, and about 50 percent attend public colleges/universities. We need trained college personnel who have the skill to oversee the spiritual formation of college students on Adventist campuses, and we need trained pastors and lay leaders to minister to Adventist students on public campuses and to reach non-Christian college students through our Adventist students. Our college students are the next generation of Adventist academic and professional leaders-the next generation of Christians to be salt and light in the world.
Currently, the denomination has no training program for those who minister to college students on Adventist campuses or public campuses. (Very few campus ministry training programs exist at any seminary of any denomination.) Billy Graham has said that "universities might well be among the most fruitful fields for evangelism." Many Adventist leaders see the need for campus ministry and have written and passed resolutions to deal with this need. However, most of the plans and ideas remain on paper. Strengthening our work on Adventist and public campuses is an idea whose time has come. If Andrews University can take a leadership role in this important initiative, other denominational entities may also contribute their expertise to the ministry of young adult Christians.
