DIVIDED

You should see DIVIDED if you care about the spiritual health of children, teenagers, families, or the Church. The documentary investigates why, according to research presented in the film, 90% of church youth will leave the Christian faith by age 21.

Its central argument is direct: youth ministries have strayed from a biblical model that places parents and theological training at the center. Fun and games have taken the place of strong instruction, and the system itself has become part of the problem.

The film is especially useful for parents, pastors, priests, rectors, and youth ministry leaders. It is well-produced, interesting, insightful, and powerful. Watch it, then consider giving it to your church leaders.

Philip Leclerc investigates why his generation is abandoning the Church. Through interviews with church youth, youth ministry experts, evangelists, researchers, commentators, and pastors, he examines the reasons youth ministry is failing.

The documentary contrasts contemporary youth ministry with a biblical approach to raising and teaching children—one centered on parents, partnership between father and mother, and strong theological training.

Three stars means DIVIDED is a solid, worthwhile documentary whose strengths clearly serve its subject. The review calls it well-produced, interesting, insightful, and powerful.

Philip Leclerc’s investigation gives the film a focused purpose. Its interviews with youth, youth ministry experts, evangelists, researchers, commentators, and pastors help develop the case that the existing system is broken. The documentary also presents youth pastors attempting substantial theological training and considers their reported retention rate.

The film’s value is primarily in the importance and force of its argument.

DIVIDED presents the Church’s spiritual crisis through a strongly biblical framework. It argues that the modern youth ministry system has moved away from the biblical approach to raising children and teenagers, replacing strong theological training with fun and games.

The documentary exalts parents’ responsibility to train their children, with the father taking a leading role and the mother partnering in that work. It also points viewers toward a Church designed according to God’s plan rather than a system built by people. Its concern is not merely that the world seduces young Christians, but that church practices themselves can fail to form them faithfully.

The film’s central longing is for the Church to return to God’s biblical plan. That emphasis aligns with Scripture’s call: “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).

DIVIDED is a clear, forceful call for the Church to recover biblical discipleship. It is well-produced, strongly Christian, and suitable for older children through adults. WORTH THE TRIP—especially for families and church leaders who want to think seriously about how children are formed in faith.