This post is part two of a three part series. Please see Part One here.
Spiritual Development: The PWOC International Executive Board has been tracking some very disturbing trends with regard to the prime target age of women who could potentially come to know the Lord through the ministry of PWOC. The main age groups of women who enter the military either by active duty or dependent status are 18-28 years of age. At the lower end of this age group, 18-23 year olds, there is a very alarming trend, which we all need to be aware of and concerned about. I spoke about this trend at all of the regional conferences I attended this past fall and have mentioned it as well in the PWOCI Executive Board 2010 Vision video located on our web site.
There are numerous reports and books being written about the lost generation of young adults who have disconnected from the truth of who God is. One such group is the Barna Group.
The Barna Group, a leading spiritual trending research organization who is widely known for their research and comments on church related trends, has published a few reports which have caused the PWOCI Board and our regional leadership to shutter and become impassioned in making some changes in order to reach out to these in need. In the Barna Group’s article titled: Barna Survey Examines Changes in Worldview Among Christians Over the Past 13 Years, stated, “Overall, the current research revealed that only 9% of all American adults have a biblical worldview. The research data showed that one pattern emerged loud and clear: young adults rarely possess a biblical worldview. The current study found that less than one-half of one percent of adults in the Mosiac generation – i.e., those aged 18-23- have a biblical worldview, compared to about one out of every nine older adults.”[1]
Also in another Barna Group article titled: Most Twentysomethings Put Christianity on the Shelf Following Spiritually Active Teen Years, stated, “that despite strong levels of spiritual activity during the teen years, most twentysomethings disengage from active participation in the Christian faith during their young adult years – and often beyond that. In total, six out of ten twenty- somethings were involved in a church during their teen years, but have failed to translate that into active spirituality during their early adulthood.”[2] For more information, I invite you to go to their web site at www.barna.org to read these articles in their entirety.
In order to better respond to this apparent assault on our young adults, we have taken steps to help support our leadership and the women that we want to reach:
- In the past term of the 2006-2008 PWOC International Board and its regional leadership, we took a hard look at our PWOC Aims. In doing so, we knew that we had a real treasure and road map for intentional discipleship –
- To lead women to accept Christ as personal Savior and Lord
- To teach women the history, beliefs and programs of the Church, all built on a solid foundation of worship and Bible study
- To develop in women the skills of prayer, evangelism, stewardship and social service, against a background of personal spiritual development
- To involve women in the work of the chapel, in keeping with their abilities and interests
These unique PWOC Aims provided a springboard to propel the next 2008-2010 PWOC International Executive Board into the vision the Lord would share with us for helping the lost find their way.
- Knowing that Biblical Worldview was on the decline, we wanted to develop an intentional, ministry wide foundational Bible study. We partnered with American Bible Society and Scripture Union to develop a woman specific E-100 Bible study. E-100 is based on a preselected essential 100 Scriptures, which have been determined to be most helpful in starting someone on the path of gaining an understanding the Bible. This program will be officially rolled out at the 2010 PWOC International Conference and ready for use in the Spring PWOC Bible Study season.
- In anticipation of having an influx of new women coming into PWOC who may have little Biblical knowledge, we wanted to help them by providing a more intentional child specific education program to run alongside our PWOC meetings. For this reason and more, the PWOC International Board recently officially approved the start of PCOC – Protestant Children of the Chapel (pronounced Peacock).
This program will help us provide intentional children’s education while we come together to learn from one another in our PWOC meetings. More information is forthcoming on this later. We have developed a new position on the PWOC International Board in order to help assist in this new initiative.
- A focus on intentional prayer has always been a part of PWOC; however, having the web site has assisted us in communicating powerful prayer points on a weekly basis.
Overall, we desire to be very intentional about reaching out to women. We will provide a safe place for them to meet Jesus in a deep way, so that they will no longer be tossed to and fro by the world’s form of knowledge that they have come to rely upon. This will in turn affect entire families as women place their hope and trust in Jesus, based upon a firm foundation of knowing Him.
To be continued…
[1] Barna Survey Examines Changes in Worldview Among Christians Over the Past 13 Years, March 6, 2009, http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/21-transformation/252-barna-survey-examines-changes-in-worldview-among-christians-over-the-past-13-years?q=examines+changes+worldview+among+christians
[2] Most Twentysomethings Put Christianity on the Shelf Following Spiritually Active Teen Years, September 11, 2006, http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/16-teensnext-gen/147-most-twentysomethings-put-christianity-on-the-shelf-following-spiritually-active-teen-years?q=twentysomethings+put
