Con't from FRAME page:

There are a lot of experts out there who are giving their opinions why, but we feel it really does boil down to 2-3 reasons.

1. Instead of being taught how to wrestle with Biblical truth, or dialogue and debate the issues these teens face on a daily basis, they were taught to be still in church, listen to the “professional talking head” behind the podium, and God forbid if you didn’t believe or agree with everything they said. 
   
   It reminds me of a joke I heard one time where a Sunday school teacher asked the class what has 4 legs, a small bushy tail, and collects nuts in the summer.  A little boy who couldn’t wait to answer raised his hand and as he was waiting to be called on thought to himself, it sure sounds like a squirrel, but when the teacher quickly called his name he squeamishly answered; “Jesus.”
   
   We believe for far too long teenagers have gotten away with giving answers they think we want to hear.  The sad thing is, that’s the climate and culture most churches have established for them.

2. The second reason we feel that today’s teens are leaving church upon graduation is that church has become a spectator sport for them.  Most of today’s teens can spend years in church and not be required to raise a finger for someone else.  We need to be careful when we say we’re having a “Youth or Worship Service” because there’s usually not an ounce of service involved, even towards God. 
   
   One of my favorite sayings is “Maturity does not come with age, but with the acceptance of responsibility.”  Bottom line; if you don’t give, you don’t grow.  Jesus didn’t come to be served, but to serve.  It’s time for the youth leaders to pass the baton of responsibility onto the youth and quit treating them as royalty.  If you want to boost their fragile self-esteems then help them to die to “I” and think about others.  We believe that youth ministries should be student led and adult coached.

3. Another important reason we feel that youth are leaving church is because the Church, the Bible, nor Jesus has been made relevant for their everyday lives.  “Why do I need the church, the Bible or Jesus when I have been given everything I’ve ever wanted, my parents will bail me out if I get in trouble, and religion is just a bunch of rules that tells you what you can’t do.”  Most of today’s teenagers don’t have a clue of what God would like to do with their lives.  They’ve never heard the stories of all the teenagers in the Bible and how God used them in their day, the same way He wants to use them in this day. We have so dumbed down Biblical history, or “His Story” that today’s teens still think the story of Jonah is about a whale, instead of obedience; Goliath was about a giant instead of teenage faith; Mary was about a virgin instead of the humility of an unwanted pregnancy. 
   
   Teens are leaving church because it has become irrelevant and unnecessary.  They have never been taught how to write themselves into God’s script for today.  Many of them have had their arms twisted into singing 3 verses
   of “Just as I am,” go to an altar “just as they are” and, unfortunately, leave "just as they were."

If you want your high-schooler to know "why" jesus is the answer, or you'd like them to "die to I" before they graduate, then stop by and check this out. You'll be glad he or she did.