As a Sunday School superintendent in a large city, I've had the opportunity to meet hundreds of young people, some of whom will be "graduating" this year (at age twenty) from our Christian Science Sunday School. Many are comfortable with the step, while others really struggle. They feel that they are being asked to leave a supportive community of spiritual thinkers—teachers and fellow-students—who have fed and nurtured them, in some cases since they were infants. The prospect of transitioning from lively Sunday School class discussions to the quieter church services is pretty unappealing to most.
Our Sunday School staff and many church members have been thinking and praying about how best to support these students after their "graduation." Our city of Boston has 37 colleges and universities, plus lots more in the suburbs, so it's a big issue for our church.
There's plenty in the news about declining church attendance among young people in the United States and elsewhere. Yet a recent study about college students and spirituality conducted by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) drew the following conclusion: "While attendance at religious services declines, college students nationwide show significant growth in a wide spectrum of spiritual and ethical considerations during their first three years of college" (News release, "Students Experience Spiritual Growth in College," Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA, December 8, 2007).
