"Allison Lynn grew up attending an Assemblies of God church with her family. But when she moved from home to go to Texas State University in San Marcos, she walked away from her faith.
"I wanted to experience college life and all that went with it," Lynn says. "I knew in my heart I couldn't do some of the things [other college students] were doing and still call myself a Christian. So I just decided I didn't want anything to do with God."
The binge drinking, drugs and relationships Lynn pursued didn't bring her the freedom she craved. Instead, she spent much of her college career feeling as though something was missing.
At the urging of her younger sister, Lynn started attending Chi Alpha her junior year and eventually rededicated her life to Christ. Now a senior at TSU, Lynn hopes to become a youth pastor and help other young people avoid the mistakes she made.
"I see a lot of students doing the same things," she says. "They have a void in their lives that they're trying to fill with the wrong things. I drank alcohol until I threw up. What I really needed was God in my life."
Lynn's story is not unusual. An alarming number of college students are severing ties with the church. Some, such as Lynn, later return to the faith. Others walk away permanently.
More than two-thirds of Protestant young adults exit the church between the ages of 18 and 22, according to a recent report by LifeWay Research, a branch of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Among the chief reasons young adults gave for quitting church - one in four mentioned the transition to college, while 22 percent said they moved too far from church to keep attending and 27 percent said they just wanted a break. Another 23 percent named work responsibilities as the primary factor.
"The years immediately following high school graduation often determine the course of a person's life as decisions are made about careers, lifestyles and spouses," says George O. Wood, general superintendent of the Assemblies of God. "It's a tragic loss when a young person walks away from the body of believers during this crucial time. We must pray and do our best to not let that happen."
Wood says approximately 60,000 AG youth are expected to graduate from high school next spring. National statistics indicate 50 to 70 percent will leave the faith within four years. Among those who attend evangelical colleges, however, the percentage is only about 5 percent.
"The temptations [on a secular campus] can be so strong during the college years," says Dennis Gaylor, national director of Chi Alpha campus ministries. "It's easy to fall away if you don't connect with other Christians early."
Gaylor says the relationships that first-year college students form during the initial weeks of school are often the ones that continue to influence them during their entire four-year stay. Those who are part of Chi Alpha try to make connections quickly, even offering to carry students' luggage as soon as they arrive on campus."
This is why it is so important to plug into a group like CCNSMSU early on in your college career. You can discover more about your faith, get deeply rooted in it, really making it your own. In addition, you can be trained to help others discover how they also can be born-again.
Join us on the first floor student center coffee shop, 7:00 PM each Monday night for prayer, Bible Study, and outreach.
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