It is mistakenly assumed by some that the best way to attract and keep young people in the church is to adopt entertainment-oriented youth ministry programs—e.g., clowns, puppets, rock music, watered-down Bible messages, etc.

This notion is, however, counteracted by an insightful article that appeared in TIME magazine (October 31, 2006) titled "In Touch With Jesus," the author explains why "sugarcoated, MTV-style youth ministry is so over. Bible-based worship is packing teens in pews now." The author writes:

 
"Youth ministers have been on a long and frustrating quest of their own over the past two decades or so. Believing that a message wrapped in pop-culture packaging was the way to attract teens to their flocks, pastors watered down the religious content and boosted the entertainment. But in recent years churches have begun offering their young people a style of religious instruction grounded in Bible study and teachings about the doctrines of their denomination. Their conversion has been sparked by the recognition that sugarcoated Christianity, popular in the 1980s and early '90s, has caused growing numbers of kids to turn away not just from attending youth-fellowship activities but also from practicing their faith at all." (You can read the entire article on the website: 
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1552027,00.html) 

In our own church, the emergence of grassroots young peoples’ movements (such as GYC) offers compelling proof that serious young people prefer Bible-based, life-transforming, and mission-driven programs to the entertainment-approaches offered them by some adult youth leaders. [For more on this, visit the GYC website: www.generalyouthconference.org].