transitioning young adults

as someone who has previously been
employed by the church,
one of the most common questions/ issues
that arises within leadership groups is:
"how can we transition and keep
young adults in the church after they
graduate from high school?"

and after much thought and speculation,
i've arrived at a grand conclusion:
you can't.
at least, not the majority of them, anyway.

i believe that north american culture
truly lacks any sort of formal ritual
that passes a young man or woman
on from child to adult.
whereas other civilizations will host transitional
feasts, ceremonies,- even a time of self discovery
through a forested area in the wilderness-
something in which the young wo/man can emerge
and pronounce themselves to be an adult.

north american culture has to cling tightly
onto the few transitional periods it has-
namely, the one in which a young person
can leave the homestead, pursue
post-secondary education, or some backpacking
excursion on a different continent,
just to break away from the family culture
and learned traditions,
and to return as an adult.

i can see how the church itself is quite
concerned over the issue.
there is a profound generation gap
in most churches.
i see it whenever i, myself, attend.
i can count the twenty-somethings on one hand
(and most of them have already made their
personal transitions, and have gotten married,
or something).

but with that generation lacking attendance,
there is a possibility that the church itself
could implode from lack of funding, or
even from a lack of diversity in age and culture.
which wouldn't be the worst thing,
i'm just saying.

maybe the original question
("how can we transition and keep
young adults in the church after they
graduate from high school?"),
itself is faulty, and the wrong question to ask.
perhaps we shouldn't be so concerned with
what sort of infrastructures and programs
are in place to keep young adults connected.

instead, the church in general, needs to
literally become preoccupied with
the individual, their life, and spiritual walk,
and the question needs to shift to:
"what can i do for you?"