In an article on Patheos, Tim Wright argues that one of the contributing factors to the rise of the ‘spiritual/not-religious’ generation is, of all things, Sunday School.
He argues that the pattern of separating children from ‘big people church’ for so many years in no way prepares them to take their place in regular worship as adults, so we should not be surprised when they abandon church as adults.
He writes:
For years I was an advocate of this model. And I still, in many ways, feel the tug to stick with it. But I remember reading a study some 20 years ago that said back then what our experience is now confirming: Kids who attend Sunday School but never attend church are more likely not to attend church as adults. (It makes sense, doesn’t it?) And kids who attend worship and never attend Sunday School are far more likely to attend worship as adults. (Those who attend a mixture of both are also more likely to assimilate into worship as adults.)
The whole article is here. What has your experience been? Does separating ages for Sunday School yield good results or no?