Take a look at the article, I found it to be some great food for thought.  Follow the link and scroll to the comments to read  other people’s thoughts on what Kara Powell wrote. 

You’ve perhaps heard the infamous statistic that 80-85% of people who become Christians do so before age 14.  We youth workers especially love quoting that data when we’re asking for a larger ministry budget.

There hasn’t appeared to be lots of hard data to back up that stat.  But maybe that’s changed.

Sociologist Dr. Christian Smith and his team at the National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR) have studied teenagers of all religious persuasions (Protestant, Roman Catholic, Jewish, Mormon, Religiously Indifferent, etc.).  He reports in his new book, Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults, that 85% of those 18-23 who have ever made a commitment to God did so before age 14.

Remember, the study includes teenagers and young adults of all religious persuasions, and it’s not entirely clear from the book what students mean what they say they have “made a commitment to God”.

But nonetheless, this is the best data I’ve seen in a while that supports that 85% statistic.

The 85% Statistic is Back — and Pretty Strong Actually | Fuller Youth Institute

Following that the morning continued as Katie and I waited till 9:30 when we could call in for the big news of weather or not we had been approved to become fully ordained members of the United Methodist Church.  During the excruciatingly slow time we got Eden ready to go with my mom for the day, got ourselves ready for the day, cleaned the house, checked e-mail, Played some Mario on Wii (after Eden’s Mickey Mouse Clubhouse fix of course), and finalized some plans for our trip to Disney.

Eventually we were able to call and find out we were both approved and then the day really started.

I spent a chunk of the day at the hospital visiting various members of the congregation.  We had one surgery patient, 2 members in ICU another in a regular room.  While there i connected up with a couple of members who were working or volunteering at the hospital.

After my visitation was over I decided to grab a chi latte and talk to the anesthesiologist who was part of the surgical team for the member I visited.  I got the good news update on how he was doing.  While waiting for the latte to reach the right temperature, I had a great talk with the barista about his tattoos.  And it turned into a great time where we talked about our faith and how his tattoos are a way to talk about his story with others and help them out of hard times in life.  It was really neat.

I went home for lunch with Katie.  Made some phone calls to update others as to the status of the folks in the hospital.  I did some contact work on Facebook.  Then went back to the office.

Back at my desk I had conversation with our family ministries director, checked in about final bulletin points for the weekend.  Gave the OK for a special love offering in light of the earthquake in Haiti.

I had a great talk with a man who wants to be baptized.

And after this post I am going to write a youth message, start on a sermon and then get ready for young adult small group.

I suspect the night will end with family time and snuggling on the couch.

As I think about where God has taken me in the past 7 years that have lead up to the green light on ordination I am amazed.  I would have never thought I would have a day like today.  And if I would have thought of it I would have cringed at that thought.  But, now all I can think is what a privilege it is to be on this adventure knowing tomorrow will bring another round of excitement.