Have you ever heard (or used) this phrase: "Youth are the church of tomorrow"? It would be very helpful to rethink this position and try something along this line: "Youth are an integral part of the church TODAY."

Ed Stetzer, director of LifeWay Research, points out a disconcerting trend: 70% of young adults who attended church for at least one year of high school stop attending church for at least a year between ages 18 to 22. There are many reasons given in the survey ranging from intentional plans made in high school to moving away to college, to work conflicts. But there is one reason at the core of the majority of the decisions: lack of meaningful relationships. They felt alone or that no one cared about what decision they made.

The core of Christianity is relationships: to God by grace, to Christ by salvation, to the Church by fellowship. If we are not in healthy spiritual relationships we die!

I Corinthians 12 makes it abundantly clear that we are not called to be alone, but to be the body of Christ.

The core of the ministry of Lake Aurora is building relationships. Our desire is for a camper to develop a healthy relationship with Christ, with other campers, and with the counselors and staff. We want them to have a healthy, productive place of relationship, worship, study, service, and fellowship in a local congregation.

The priority of relationship building starts in the local congregation. The 30 percent who didn’t drift away after high school, pronounced a robust faith in Christ, a committed place of service, and healthy relationships as keys. Let’s make relationship building a priority. Lake Aurora is ready to help.