National Study Of Youth And Religion Chapter Summary

3- While the idea of finding God is to direct the youth on the right path, it seems like it’s mostly done for the congregation and not really for the youth’s life. This text shows how the

Their questions now increase in quantity and beyond what can be answered. The dwindling number of faithful youth is staggering. Young people are less and less engaged in the church. Many may be Christian in name, largely due to upbringing. A survey, conducted by Lifeway Christian Resources, discovered 65% of youth who identify as Christian are “mushy Christians or Christians in name only… most are just indifferent” (Grossman 1). There is a difference in belonging to the faith and simply referring to oneself as Christian. The rate of these indifferent youth continue to grow. An increase in number is encouraged by lack of discourse and answers. Questions over faith lead to closed doors, enforcing silence rather than devotion. Gladys Pozza, Faith Formation leader of the Church of Annunciation,

Dr. Childers is the Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Homiletics and Speech Communication at the San Francisco Theological Seminary. She is a Presbyterian minister who has served in congregations in New Jersey and Kansas. She holds a B.A. from Wheaton College, M.Div degree from Princeton Theological Seminary and Ph.D. from the Graduate Theology in Berkeley, California.

There has been a change in religious socialization and source of religious influence. Researcher’s findings show that religiousness and spirituality in adolescents is confusing and somewhat complex due to the increasing amount of diversity among younger Americans. What’s important is parental religious socialization on adolescents from early development. The most pronounced influence is the advent of the Internet. This cultural development suggests that the Internet will have major implications for religious congregations. Surveys show that adolescent doesn’t spend much time on the Internet looking at religious websites. Furthermore, it suggests adolescent are far more likely to talk to their friends about spiritual matters, so development

Furthermore, for many young people religion is a fundamental part of their identity (Furlong, 2013). Their religion may shape the way that they live their lives which impacts on their beliefs and priorities (Furlong, 2013). Religion may prevent young people from participating in certain activities which underpin youth life, activities like sex, drugs and alcohol for instance. Young people may feel alienated because of this and they may feel as though they cannot express their true identity to other individuals outside of their religion. However there are many religious communities and groups which can support young people, this can help individuals to feel a sense of belonging which they may not find in their own natural community.

Christians are God’s social workers, so there is a heightened sense of responsibility in regards to guiding the youth of future generations. God is the Supreme Psychologist and His words provide the wisdom needed to avert and counteract the negative influences of this world. “Counseling needs Christian DNA if it is to call people out of the death spiral of self-preoccupation” (Powlison, 2012, p. 19). For centuries, Spiritual and Religious leaders have conceded that our vessel [body] can be codified by the actions of language, words, and thought forms; “Scientific evidence now supports this and has proven that our DNA can be reprogrammed by words and frequencies” (Fosar & Bludorf, 2001, p.

These moral improvements cause adolescents to think, feel and do what they feel is morally right, and also behave in a more caring and less selfish manner. Although natural maturity is one reason people experience such a significant growth in morality in their adolescent years, the main cause of this moral growth is the various education programs in schools that focus on the importance of moral action by teaching young students self discipline, empathy for others, and delayed gratitude. The result of this moral education is adolescents gaining a stronger sense of desire to serve others and maintain moral attitudes (Myers, 2011). One common lesson that almost all religions teach is that being good is the key to peace, salvation and enlightenment. I believe the moral action taught in schools is highly responsible for spiking the interest of many young minds around the world who wish to apply what they have learned about morals into their everyday life, and live for a purpose that will ultimately lead to the reward of everlasting happiness. This is the second reason I believe many so individuals decide to convert to religion in their adolescent

“Then he said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.’ ” (New International Version, Luke 9:23-24). About a month ago, I was asked to share a five-minute reflection on this verse at New Life’s high school youth group. Little did I know that my attempted message shadowed in comparison to the message of Kenda Dean in her book Almost Christian. Both this verse and her book provide powerful effectiveness through their unpleasantness, if such a paradox is possible. I was hesitant to share this unpleasantness with the youth group students, afraid presenting Christianity as a lifestyle that isn’t easy and isn’t pretty would make them not want to follow Christ anymore. However, Dean asserts that the opposite course of action that is taking place in the North American church right now is even more unadvisable. Dean addresses the issue and takes on the moves of Practical Theology as she consistently presents her argument that “perhaps young people lack robust Christian identities because churches offer such a stripped-down version of Christianity that it no longer poses a viable alternative to imposter spiritualties like Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” (36). With this thesis, Dean engages in the descriptive-empirical, interpretive, normative, and pragmatic tasks of Practical Theology to insist that when it comes to

Throughout this investigation, the question I wish to explore is “What are the biggest and more significant influences on young adolescents’ spiritual and religious beliefs?” To thoroughly investigate and answer the specific question, vast amounts of information from different sources need to be obtained. Hence, I produced a survey that primarily focuses on the factors that influence young adolescents’ religious and spiritual beliefs. The survey can be categorized as my primary source of information, which I can utilize to obtain information and gain a personal perspective on the issue being explored. With the addition of several secondary sources, more information in regards to the issue can be obtained to further explore the issue.

As Christians we are identified by a number of terms: Child of God, Person of Faith, Believer or Follower of Christ just to name a few but what if we were identified by our spiritual maturity rather than in general terms? Would we be more diligent in our spiritual growth and more solid in our foundation of faith if it were part of our identification as followers of Christ? How many of us, myself included, would truthfully be called Prayer Warrior, Evangelist (a preacher of the gospel), Disciple (students of Jesus), Man/Woman after God’s own heart or even Faithful Servant? The foundation of Christian maturity must be solid and established on the true doctrine which begins with understanding “The Gospel” and on Prayer, from

Faith formation is also critical in helping youth find meaning through the development of moral principles. We live in an era in which it is perceived that youth no longer have as conservative moral values as their forefathers. In fact, Professor Sandra Stojanovic (2011) argues that traditional education based on respect, courteousness, selflessness, civility, propriety, honesty and righteousness from an early stage, and had enough self-discipline to maintain these values. Through the Religion Survey with 42% of participants claiming that religion does not influence individuals with their discipline levels. Despite this, these moral values and self-discipline have slowly diminished over the years with increasing evidence that youth are rejecting traditional ethical frameworks. This has been evident through a growth in teen pregnancy and juvenile crime along with juvenile antisocial behaviour highlighting the fact that morality is becoming increasingly problematic. In fact, Crime Statistics Agency (2017) recognises that in 2016 alone more than 25,600 offences were committed by people aged 18 and younger. In fact, research conducted by the Southern Baptist Convention (2002) shows that 88% of adolescents who grew in Christian families have left the Church. These factors make faith

How does living under the expectation of performative Christianity affect teenagers and their behavior? While many religions are present in the United States, Christianity is perhaps not the most prevalent, but certainly the loudest voice. Religion is usually considered an excellent tactic to keep teenagers in line morally, legally, and emotionally. However, this is far less effective when youth do not hold the tenants of religion for themselves, and instead act out a version of themselves when around adults and truly religious peers. When with secular peers, teenagers often engage in dangerous and immoral behaviors. Teenage culture, when influenced by performative religion is frequently preformative, quietly rebellious, and self destructive.

The literature provides two major areas in which religion impacts on youth at individual level. By citing Benson (2003), Donelson (1999), King & Boyatzis (2004) King and Furrow (2008) argue that religion in youth lives serves two major purposes, one is promotion of positive moral development and second is protection against risky conduct of activities. Similarly religious associations of youth often act as a protective measure against wrong behavior and wrong conduct of sex or premarital sex, it promotes good healthy practices and supports youth in coping up stressed situations (Hopkins, 2007), (Cusack, 2011). These arguments show that youth associate religion as it helps them to judge what is right and wrong in life and to maintain a respectful character which is acceptable to society. However these

It is a new issue that many prayer services have not necessarily been designed to meet the interests and needs of a teenager. Groups were given an opportunity to create their own Youth Ministry that would relate more towards a young adult. My group decided to base their ministry on the theme of faith. As part of a group of four, my main role was to find relevant bible passages that related to the theme of faith and also to present my own personal testimony of how faith has made an effect in my life.

Youth groups in some areas give students a place to have fun while they learn about God. In contrast, some students find it difficult to relate to the material or find it a boring waste of time to go to church (SOURCE). As students start to figure out who they really are and who they want to be in life, they make difficult decisions and sometimes fall back on parents to get them through that time. If a child grows up in a freethinking home, they may have troubles understanding what to believe. Freethinking parents think logically about higher powers, but Debbie wrote that she would respect the “believes” his or her child has (SOURCE). High school is a still a stage of confusion because many students are still under the influence of their parents, yet if and when students go to college or move out of the house, they may find ways to break away from the home opinions. After high school, many students will either go to college or move out of the house, however, self-expression and branching off from home, is all part of becoming an adult.