If you are reading this article you are interested in helping collegians in your church engage in evangelism with their peers on their campuses. You know that sharing Christ with Americans under 25 is more important than ever, given the recent research about their openness to spirituality revealed in Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches That Reach Them by Ed Stetzer, Rich Stanley, and Jason Hayes.

One of the most disturbing realities of the church today is the staggering rate of 18-25 year-olds who are disengaging from faith and “dropping out” of church.  Statistics show that 6 out of 10 twenty-somethings were active in church in their teens, but have since stopped going altogether.  The question hanging in the balance is: Why? Why do they not stay? Yet, there is a question that is more crucial, more pressing, and quite clear:  Why do they stay?  A glimpse into the students that are staying and the churches that are keeping them gives a clear picture of what we as a local church can do to reach and keep collegians and twenty-somethings.