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Thursday, March 31, 2005
Once again, since we didn't have Sunday School on Easter Sunday, we'll be posting various quotes from stuff I'm reading and giving you a chance to respond. Today's quote comes from a recent Christianity Today magazine article.
The article, by Andy Crouch, is titled "Compliant but Confused" and details the book "Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers." It even says that "No book in recent memory has as much potential to transform the practice of youth ministry..." Needless to say, I was intrigued.
The article highlights some of the findings, such as "there is no generation gap" (meaning that teens these days generally like and admire their parents), "teens like church" (meaning that teens would like to attend more services than they already do, they're just so busy) and "teens are not spiritual seekers" (meaning that 75% of teens identify with some form of Christianity, less than 1% are involved in exploring alternative religions like Wicca).
Then the fodder for today's quote:
"If only all the news were so encouraging. In fact, these quantitative indicators are overshadowed by what [authors] Smith and Denton found out when they sat down to talk with teens one-on-one. It should rock the world of every church in the country: In spite of their generally positive attitude toward religion, almost no teenagers from any religious background, can articulate the most basic beliefs of their faith...They could talk sophisticatedly about Will & Grace but not grace."
So, teenagers (and adults who I know secretly read this but don't tell...you aren't exempt, either), two questions: Do you agree or disagree and why? And secondly, if it's true, what are we going to do about it?
Brent 4:39 AM
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