Teenagers are among the most religiously active Americans, with nearly 6 out of every 10 teens engaged in some type of group spiritual activity in a typical week. That’s the finding of research by the Barna Group. Yet, the spirituality of teenagers is also remarkably different. Researcher David Kinnaman says while most teenagers remain spiritually active in some way, it appears that teens are much less inclined toward spirituality than were teens a dozen years ago. Kinnaman pointed out that some of these changes may go unnoticed by church leaders because the most visible activities – teen church attendance and youth group involvement – have not changed much in recent years. Bible reading was also pretty much unchanged.
The most striking change was that teenagers today seem much less inclined to have spiritual conversations about their faith in Christ with non-believers. In 1997 63% of teens said they’d shared their faith, but now that percentage is down to 45%. Sunday school participation has declined from 35% of all teenagers to 30% this year. Small group attendance was down from 30% to 21%; the proportion of teens who reported donating any of their own money to church has softened from 35% to 26%; and even praying has dropped from 81% to 71%. Kinnaman notes that there’s a larger change among Catholic teens than protestant young people.
One positive is that among 13- to 17-year-old protestants, there are actually signs of increased religious activity. Another positive is that so called evangelical teens are actually more involved than teens were a dozen years ago. On that positive note, I conclude today’s Another View of the News.
This is Carl Ramsey and that’s Another View of the News.
Let us know how God is blessing you! Please share your comments below.