Date
3-2022
Department
Rawlings School of Divinity
Degree
Doctor of Ministry (DMin)
Chair
Reginald Weems
Keywords
Youth, Apologetics, Theology, Relationships, Discipleship, Curriculum
Disciplines
Religion
Recommended Citation
Sales, John Wesley IV, "Connecting Youth to the Gospel: The Role of Theology and Apologetics" (2022). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 3418.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/3418
Abstract
Connecting youth to the Gospel sounds like a basic undertaking. However, evidence shows students know very little about the Gospel. While they grow up in church and attend Sunday school, there is still a lack of desire from students to want to know who God is. There needs to be a path to teaching students the genuine and deep teachings of the Gospel. This topic is important because as students grow older, they may grow apart from what they learned in Sunday school. When they are challenged and distracted by the world, they need a strong anchor to keep them close to Jesus. The purpose of this thesis is to shed light on students who leave the Church when they graduate high school. They leave and avoid plugging into another church, or they stay in town but do not want to plug into a church. There are several issues of why students leave, and it is important that the church realizes and responds to the students who are leaving the church. The goal of this paper is to inform and give a possible solution to students leaving and not coming back to the church. It is also to inform teachers and students of the inevitable danger that is coming when these students graduate high school. The research method will be qualitative. This text aims to encourage and inform the reader of the problem and solution for students who leave the church. How does the church prepare students for this issue? How does the church help those who have already or are going to leave the church?