A true story: I had a kid back in my student ministry days who had no real shot at success in life. He was an unbeliever living with his alcoholic dad and older brother, both unbelievers. A friend invited him to youth group . . .
He became a follower of Jesus. He was socially awkward, impolite around girls, probably had ADD. He was a kid I constantly had to take aside and "talk to." But we loved him and he belonged. Better than that, he found places to pitch in at the church and feel a part of the family
My fleshly assumption was that this kid would probably end up going off the rails around college, if he went. His dad wasn't a positive factor at all, much less a spiritual influence. Twenty years later, that kid is flourishing as a mature Christian man and in ministry
He's got a wife and kids and he's breaking the pattern that was handed to him by his broken family. I'm sure if you asked him what he wished he'd had as a kid, he'd say an intact family and a Christian father. He didn't have that. But you know what he had? A church.
Fatherlessness is epidemic and the chief reason for the immature faith of young adults who profess Christ but don't follow Him. But one reason "abolish youth group" is impractical (and really not wise) is precisely *because* of fatherlessness.
I know this one example is anecdotal but I can think of many others from my 25 years in ministry. You probably can too. We have kids won to Christ or invited in by believing students. They don't have Christian fathers. The church disciples them.
They get to be a part of a community of peers who are differently focused than their peers at school or in the neighborhood. And if "youth group" is done well, they get age-specific teaching & discipleship along with healthy relationships & exposure to spiritually mature families
*And* they are integrated into the life of the intergenerational body. Killing student ministry is not (usually) the best way to solve "the real problem." In fact, a wisely led student ministry can be one of the best ways to offset it. /end
