“I ca n’t find anywh ere tha t fits me.” If I had a shot of espresso for every time I’ve heard a college student say that, I’d be a very caffeinated girl. What is odd is that my friends are not referring to their classes, social relationships or jobs. They are talking about church.

 

The absence of college students in America’s churches is overwhelming. And it’s not because students don’t love God. It’s because they don’t have a place to connect.

 

Students are searching for an authentic spiritual experience with depth and relevance. In order to reach this generation, the church needs to begin with a gut-check. If the church is merely trying to transform college students into younger and better versions of their parents, something’s got to change.

 

I don’t really want to become a carbon copy of my parents. I have a different perspective and different cultural influences than they do. I want to be me. I have dreams, ambitions and hang-ups just like everyone else, but I need a place where I am loved and accepted anyway.

 

For many college students, church is not that place. Churches are trying so hard to be relevant bastions of spiritual depth that they are missing the integral element of Christianity: love. After all, Jesus commanded us to love God and love people. If the church could really focus on this gospel, and actually live it out, the missing college students just might start turning up.