As part of a new feature here at the blog, I am planning to interview authors with books helpful for church leaders. B&H is helping me with the interviews (thanks Julie Gwinn), and it will include interviews with authors from many publishers about their books, mission, and focus. More on that later, but be sure to go by their church leadership portal, which is part of www.churchleadershipbooks.com.

There is a widget on the sidebar that will list each of the interviews so you can find them easily as you return to visit the blog.

The dubious honor of going first is to the Rainers, Sam and Thom, who have written a new book called Essential Church.

ES: What prompted you to write Essential Church? From where did the idea come?

Continue reading B&H Church Leadership Book Interviews: Thom & Sam Rainer.

If you followed the young adult dropout series, you have seen some insightful commentary from Jeff Schadt, Scott Stevens, Jim Johnston, and Mark Lydecker.

Here is another commentary. See this press release that explains, "MOVIEGUIDE® has the tools to help parents and churches prevent teenagers and young adults from leaving the Christian faith. We can even help them strengthen their faith."

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

While doing this study, we found that many individuals, churches, and ministries are already actively engaging the Church Dropout problem. I think you will see many similarities between the Church Dropout Study LifeWay Research released this week and the experiences of Jeff Schadt from Youth Transition Network. We at LifeWay Research were encouraged to find so many diverse ministries working together to address the transition issue.

Meet Jeff and then visit the Youth Transition Network:

Scott McConnell will participate in a live radio interview on the Church Dropout Study at 2:30 Central Time this afternoon on WMBI. Catch the stream here or tune in if you are within listening range of WMBI 90.1 FM (Chicago area and parts of Indiana and Wisconsin).

USA TODAY's Tuesday story on young adult dropouts drew interest in the print version (inside the Life section) and online in the News section.

You can see the story here.

At 11 a.m. on Wednesday, a full day after the story posted, it was #2 on most emailed and #7 on most commented on the news tracking at USA TODAY.com. On the home page tracking for the whole paper, it was #5 on most emailed and #9 on most commented.

We all know there is something to be concerned about here... but hopefully we will do more than just bemoan the current reality. I am always amazed by the propensity of Christians to revel in bad news and then do nothing to change the situation. Change is desperately needed.

I was impressed today that we needed to pray for our young adults-- but also our churches so that they can be the kind of churches that Mark Kelly describes here.

Speaking of needed change... tomorrow's guest commentary on the subject will be, "Why Young Adults Drop Out of Church and What Can Be Done to Stem the Tide," by Scott Stevens.

I have a 20-something friend who is a short-term missionary in Spain. Her mission is to plant house churches in the midst of a collegiate community, because in her words, "most of these people would never think about setting foot inside a church."

If you want to know the truth of it, very few set foot inside a church in Spain, period. For the most part, churches there are dusty museums that are a reminder of a world that existed in the distant past.

If Protestant churches in America don't take the results of the Church Dropout Study and the Young Adult Study seriously, this current reality in Europe is going to be our future.

See the USA Today story here.

See the full version here.

Starting tomorrow, we will shift the discussion here to research. We will have 4 guest bloggers who will comment and interact.

Let me encourage you to watch USA Today for the story and see the Lifeway Research site for the details, graphs, and other info.

Here is the description: Church Dropouts, August 7, 2007

This study is an in-depth look at the percentage of young adults who stay in church vs. drop out between the ages of 18 and 22. Insights will include reasons some leave the church and others stay, as well as what can be done to encourage more to stay in church.

After a week or so of discussion on dropouts, I will begin a series of posts looking at how people are groups use the word "missional" and why it matters.

As I mentioned in the first post, we will use this space to discuss research releases.

The upcoming release on post-high school church dropouts will be important. There will be several guest bloggers who will join us... stay tuned.

After that comes the alcohol study...

If you have not done so, check out the Lifeway Research home page and subscibe to the newsletter. You will receive notices when the research is coming out.

Upcoming Releases

Church Dropouts August 6, 2007
This study is an in-depth look at the percentage of young adults who stay in church vs. drop out between the ages of 18 and 22. Insights will include reasons some leave the church and others stay, as well as what can be done to encourage more to stay in church.

Perspectives of Pastors and Laity on Alcohol September 18, 2007
This study reveals the beliefs and attitudes of Protestant pastors and laity toward drinking alcohol.