Young Adults Search Spiritually

Check out some stats and quotes from a recent study regarding spirituality among young people. No wonder the Disciples of Christ and the Presbyterian Church (USA) are in decline!

While 44 percent of respondents called themselves 'religious,' 35 percent said they are 'spiritual but not religious' and 18 percent said neither.

At Roanoke College, in Salem, Va., where he has been chaplain for more than 20 years, Paul Henrickson said he is quite familiar with the 'spiritual but not religious' phenomenon.

'You have a lot of kids that understand in their hearts that there is a mystery about life that is larger than they are and larger than they understand, and they would call that 'spiritual.' And they are very interested in that,' Henrickson said.

But, he added, 'they pursue that in private ways' and 'in kind of a shotgun approach. They'll look at all kinds of things from Eastern religions to yoga to New Age stuff to the standard Christianity. But they are unlikely to have that solid commitment to a religious institution (like) church membership.'

Check out this quote:

The survey's authors challenged American colleges and universities to be more responsive to the spiritual hunger of their students. They said previous studies have indicated older college students are disappointed with how infrequently they have been challenged to think about "meaning of life" issues in class.

Is this criticism true of our churches as well? And finally:

Previous research by Chris Smith, a University of North Carolina sociologist and adviser to the UCLA study, found 13-17 year-olds are highly conventional in their religious practices, following how they were raised. But just 9 percent of the UCLA respondents said they felt compelled to follow their parents' religious practice. While 42 percent described themselves as "secure" in their spiritual and religious views, 10 percent said they were "doubting," 23 percent "seeking" and 15 percent "conflicted" (respondents could choose more than one response).

So kids are often not continuing in the religious practices of their parents. I wonder why that is? I know that my spirituality and relationship with God looks rather different than my parents. And my sister, who is Catholic, also has a very different experience.