Why do so many 18-22 year-olds drop out of church after high school? Not for the reasons you might think. An upcoming book called Essential Church by Sam Rainer looks for the answers to that question, and the author has posted some of his findings at his blog—see his three myths about church dropouts.

The first (and most widespread, I think) myth he exposes is the idea that secular universities are responsible for pulling students away from the faith. Rainer’s research indicates that young people are about equally likely to stop attending church shortly after high school whether they attend college or not. In other words, atheist professors and worldly college life are not the primary culprits.

David Wayne explores this idea further over at Jollyblogger.