Youth Ministry in a Multifaith Society by Kageler Len;Clark Chap;

Author:Kageler, Len;Clark, Chap; [Kageler, Len]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780830884070
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Published: 2014-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

Denominational Differences in Adolescent Vital Faith Creation

The National Study of Youth and Religion asked students questions about their personal religiosity that provide a nuanced understanding of their interior spirituality (see table 6.1). Some questions asked reveal that conservative Protestant youth were higher in religious experience and expression. Mainline Protestant youth were stronger in some areas. Generally, Roman Catholic youth were some distance behind their Protestant peers.

Table 6.1. Personal Religious Practices, US Adolescents, Ages 13 to 17

In the past year, the teen has US CP MP RC

practiced spiritual meditation not including prayer 10% 8% 10% 10%

been part of a prayer, or Bible group at school 15% 25% 17% 8%

taught Sunday school or its equivalent 20% 28% 26% 15%

burned candle or incense that had spiritual meaning 21% 14% 24% 35%

fasted as a spiritual discipline 24% 22% 25% 29%

been part of any other Bible or prayer group 27% 42% 31% 17%

played or sang in a Christian youth band or youth choir 28% 37% 35% 18%

read a devotional or spiritual book other than Bible 30% 45% 28% 22%

spoken publicly about their faith 30% 42% 33% 20%

attended a religious music concert 34% 51% 51% 20%

shared their faith with someone not of their faith 43% 56% 51% 37%

listened to Christian music (any media) 51% 70% 52% 35%

worked hard to reconcile a broken relationship 59% 61% 63% 61%

prays alone at least once a day, often more 38% 49% 32% 33%

(US = all US youth, CP = conservative Protestants, MP = mainline Protestants, RC = Roman Catholic)

Source: Adapted from Christian Smith and Melinda Denton, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), p. 46.

The following Protestant denominations had high enough participation numbers for researchers to be able to make statistically significant comparisons: Assemblies of God (AG), Disciples of Christ (DC), Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA), Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA), Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), United Methodist Church (UMC), black Baptists (BB, 3 denoms.), Church of God in Christ (COGIC). Table 6.2 reveals that denominations whose youth ministry praxis leans traditional tend to produce young people with a higher sense of vital faith.35

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