Trying to build a bigger Sunday school work won't revive dying congregations, according to Scripture Union's director of ministry development.

Alan Charter said churches should concentrate on developing whole-church discipleship which includes children in the life of a congregation rather than separating them out.

He spoke to Christian Today as recent figures showed a sharp decline in religious affiliation in Britain. During the last five decades, the number of people describing themselves as having no religion has gone from three per cent of the population to nearly half. Historic denominations are showing sharp falls, with congregations propped up by immigrants from countries with higher levels of churchgoing.

Prof David Voas, co-director of British Religion in Numbers, told Christian Today that "churches do need to find a way to keep their young people if they are going to survive".

However, Charter warned against trying to replicate the success of the Sunday School movement, though he said that its origins in trying to meet societal needs as well as spiritual provided important lessons: "At one level the answer is simple: it's about helping churches grow in confidence. How can we help churches connect with the needs of their communities in Spirit-led entrepreneurialism?"

He urged a shift away from a "dry-cleaning" approach to children's ministry in which the task of their spiritual formation was outsourced to professionals in the same way that other services were bought. "That's an abdication of responsibility," he said.

Charter called for a "shift towards a stronger 'faith at home' approach" which reflected a deeper historic pattern from which the Sunday School phenomenon had moved away. He said the issue was "how the whole church could own the agenda of seeing faith formed in the next generation".

He said that helping churches in nurturing family faith, letting children participate in church life and creating opportunities for real encounters with Jesus was crucial. Particularly important was the ability for children and young people to form peer communities: "They need their own sub-culture," he said.