Increasingly, those churches are empty of young faces.

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In a new report, Churches Together Around Ludlow said young people and the elderly were most affected by council cuts and poor job opportunities.

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Except at weddings and the christenings that sometimes followed them, there were no young among the congregations of the three churches, and with nostalgia Bartholomew now and again remembered Youth Reach and Youth Action and the Saturday rambles to Kilmashogue and Two Rock.

NEWYORKER: Faith

And somehow despite everything that's going on in your lives, military families still find the time to serve others -- coaching Little League, running the PTA, making Christmas special for kids with Toys for Tots, volunteering at churches and hospitals, mentoring young people, being role models in your own right.

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Its organisers claim it was supported by churches that are mostly growing, and have young congregations, with women well represented in leadership roles.

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The brothers have persuaded churches eager to attract and entertain teens and young adults to sponsor occasional theatrical screenings, like those on New Year's Eve.

FORBES: On a script and a prayer

And sometimes, getting in your face and telling you what you need to do. (Applause.) As a young man, I worked with a group of Catholic churches who taught me that no poverty program can make as much difference as the kindness and commitment of a caring soul.

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In January, Hardaway sentenced two young white men to five years in prison for vandalizing black churches in Sumter County.

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Research by Professor Leslie Francis of the Centre for Theology and Education at Trinity College, Carmarthen, found that churches that sponsor local schools tend to have more young people in their congregations, more people taking confirmation and more people joining their choirs.

ECONOMIST: Schools and religion

His work as a young community organizer on the South Side of Chicago was funded in part by the Catholic churches of Chicago and their Developing Communities Project.

WHITEHOUSE: The White House

And my job was to work with churches and laypeople and local leaders to rebuild neighborhoods, and improve schools, and help young people who felt like they had nowhere to turn.

WHITEHOUSE: Hyde Park Career Academy Chicago, Illinois

Young musicians in Dorset are being encouraged to take up the organ due to a lack of organists in local churches.

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