Adults who regularly attended church as children are much more likely to be involved in church-based and personal spiritual activities, according to a recent study.

The Barna Research Group discovered that about six out of 10 adults in the United States who attended church during their childhood regularly attend a Christian church today. This compares with 78 percent of Americans who did not attend church as children and are not attending as adults.

Willie Oliver, director of family ministries for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America, says this is consistent with previous research concerning children and church. “Most people who become Christians will do so as children,” says Oliver.

He points out that previous research by the Barna Research Group shows that the largest group of people—32 percent—who accept Christ are between the ages of five and 13. Four percent of people accept Christ between the ages of 14 to 18, and six percent accept Christ after age 19.

“We need to invest more time, effort and energy discipling children in the church,” says Oliver. As a church leader he wants to foster an environment of worship that focuses on children.

“If that is the largest group that will come to Christ, we cannot ignore who our target audience includes for a worship service,” Oliver says.

Family Ministries and Children’s Ministries for the Adventist Church in North America have developed a family-friendly church curriculum that helps pastors and leaders to be intentional in focusing on children. “Most people don’t accept Christ because they got a handbill in the mail and they showed up at a meeting someplace,” he says. “To be sure, there are many stories like that, and praise God that those individuals came. But while we should continue to do widespread public evangelism, we also really need to focus on discipling our kids.”

Oliver says that even though some of them might leave, individuals who come to the church when they’re children are likely to attend church when they’re adults.

The Barna study, released November 5, says, “church attendance is declining by generation, regardless of childhood church experience.” But the decline is much steeper for adults who didn’t attend church as a child.

According to the Adventist Church’s annual secretary’s report, in 1999, for every 100 members who joined the Adventist Church, 17 were reportedly dropped or missing. For the last four quarters the figure has increased to 21.5. Some regions of the church worldwide are reporting as high as a 30 to 40 percent attrition rate.

“Maybe we’ve done more baptizing than discipling,” says Oliver. “That may be why we have a pretty high attrition rate. We need to emphasize discipleship rather than just becoming members.

Even though the church has experienced its highest attrition rate over the past quinquennium, Oliver says, “It has to be more than just going to church. We have to be introducing our children to Christ.”