1. Research Report on Vibrant Faith Formation
From the Research
Of the former Youth & Family Institute.

2. Effective Christian Education: A National Study of Protestant Congregations: Search Institute
Focus: Who do 7-12 graders identify as the key faith formative influences in their lives?

3. The Results: Mother 74% female 81% male Father 50% female 61% male
Pastor 44% female 57% male
Grandparent 29% female 30% male
Youth group 30% female 30% male
Friends 29% female 22% male
Camp 28% female 20% male

4. The Results: (in %)
Age
Total CC
ELCA PC
UCC
UMC
SBC
K-6 60 61 67 69 66 56 48
7-9 52 55 70 54 45
10-12 35 47 32 40 33 49
Adult 28 23 31 22 29

5. Up the Creek With a Paddle: Effective Youth Ministry Practices, 1995 Center for Youth Ministries
Focus question: According to 20 youth ministry leaders, what are the critical factors in faith formation?

6. The Results: Parents Other Caring Adults Peers Service Retreats Story
Music

7. Martinson’s Eight Faith Factors: Late 1990’s
Focus: What are the key factors that positively influence college age students in their faith?

8. Faith integrated into family identity and practice
Three or more adults of vital faith
Service in Jesus name
Apprenticed to leadership in church
Engaging, meaningful congregational experience that involved youth
Excellent sr.high/young adult ministry
Strong Christian friends
Support in personal crisis

9. Faith Factors: Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary, 1990’s
Focus: What are the characteristics of exemplary youth ministry congregations?

10. The Results: Mission/service opportunities Youth in leadership roles
Meaningful involvement of youth
Strong youth workers
Warm, caring ministry/fellowship that reflects warm/caring youth minister
Formal and informal interactions

11. The Results continued…
High level of expectations
Sufficient budget
Pastoral support
Family support
Sense that God is doing something
Strong inviter orientation
Intentionally evangelistic

12. Hardwired to Connect: The New Scientific Case for Authoritative Communities, 2003 Dartmouth Medical School Institute for American Values YMCA
Focus: What is the state of American youth and what do they need in order to be healthy?

13. The Results:
American youth are in a deteriorating state of mental and behavioral health.
The adult/cultural reactions to this state is inadequate and contributing to the problem.

14. Add Health Study continued…
“what’s causing this crisis in American childhood is a lack of connectedness…close connectedness to other people, and deep connections to moral and spiritual meaning.”

15. Add Health Study continued…
“The challenge for civil society is to expose young people to morally admirable persons.
What really holds potential for making a moral impact on a mid-adolescent is a powerful connection with individual adults whom he can admire or idealize.”

16. Add Health Study continued…
“We believe that building and strengthening authoritative communities is…our best strategy…authoritative communities are groups that live out the types of connectedness that our children increasingly lack.”

17. Barna Research Nov. 2003
Citing research showing that a large proportion of church-going people dropout of church between the ages of 18 and 24, Barna stated that the research underscored the importance of families, not churches, taking the lead in the spiritual development of children.

18. Results continued…
"The church encouraged parents to prioritize the spiritual development of their children and worked hard to equip them for that challenge. Parents, for their part, raised their children in the context of a faith-based community that provided security, belonging, spiritual and moral education, and accountability. Neither the parents nor the church could have done it alone.”

19. Results continued…
“To became mature Christians we usually found a symbiotic partnership between their parents and their church."

20. Dissertation on Effective Practices with Early Adolescent Males Dr
Dissertation on Effective Practices with Early Adolescent Males Dr. Paul Hill, 2004
Focus: What are the characteristics and practices that junior high boys identify as significant for engaging life in the congregation?

21. The Results Worship that relates Connections with friends and peers
Caring staff, especially the pastor and/or youth worker
Fun Activities
Family religious practices

22. What shapes that character and content?
Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers: Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton 2005
Focus: What is the character and content of the spiritual lives of American teenagers?
What shapes that character and content?

23. The Results:
“Parents are normally very important in shaping the religious and spiritual lives of their teenage children, even though they may not realize it.” p.56
“The best general rule of thumb that parents might use to reckon their children’s most likely religious outcomes is this: ‘We’ll get what we are.’” p. 57

24. The Results continue…
“…a lot of research in the sociology of religion suggests that the most important social influence in shaping young people’s lives is the religious life modeled and taught to them by their parents.”

25. The Results continued…
American teenagers have a faith and a belief system. It is called “moralistic therapeutic deism”.
God is my personal butler.
God as divine therapist.

26. Moralistic Therapeutic Deism
God exists and created the orders of the world and watches over human life on earth.
God wants people to be good.
The goal of life is to be happy.
God solves our problems.
Good people go to heaven

27. Exemplary Youth Ministry Study: Luther Seminary, Lilly Funded, Seven Denominations 2005
Focus: What are the characteristics of congregations with exemplary youth ministries?

28. The Results: Study identified 44 Faith Assets or Practices
Of most significance:
Theology matters: God is the subject of sentences
Pastoral leaders are fully engaged in ministry with adolescents
Hospitality is critical

29. Exemplary Study continued…
Family Involvement:
Parents possess and practice a strong faith
Promotes family faith practices
Reflects family harmony
Equip, instruct and guide parents for a faith nurturing home
Fosters parent-youth relationships

30. Practicing Congregations: Diana Butler Bass
Focus: Are there common characteristics across a wide variety of congregations and denominations that demonstrate vitalized, or revitalized, congregational ministries?

31. The Results: Listening and discerning for God Hospitality
Re-traditioning, keeping Christian wisdom fresh and alive
Narrative stories of God who acts and sends people out

32. Ecumenical Study of Lifelong Faith Formation: Center for Ministry Development Louisville Institute (Seven Denominations) 2009
The Focus: What are the key factors in exemplary congregations for lifelong faith formation?

33. The Results:
A shared, and compelling vision for lifelong faith formation is essential
It takes the right leadership; diverse ages and gifts, passionate, committed, over the long haul, ongoing nurturing and training
Community is essential; and experience of belonging, being relational

34. The Results continued…
Faith formation is strongly connected to worship; identify forming, cross-generational, anchored to Jesus Christ
Cross-generational life together is effective in lifelong faith formation
Faith formation opportunities offered to young adults
The role of the home is critical to lifelong faith formation

35. The Vibrant Faith Frame sponsored by The Youth & Family Institute
The Focus: What would a vision, model and vocabulary look like that integrates Scripture, church history, confessional teachings, modern research and
bio-neurological insights built around the theme of vibrant faith formation?

36. The Vibrant Faith Frame
The Spirit blows in six places or locations where the potential exists for faith formative relationships to happen.
Creation
Culture
Community
Congregation
Home
Individuals

38. The Vibrant Faith Frame
Five Principles to serve as a compass heading for ministry:
Faith is formed by the power of the Holy Spirit through personal, trusted relationships-often in our own homes.
The church is a living partnership between home and congregation.
Home is church too.

39. Vibrant Faith Frame 4. Faith is caught more than taught.
5. If we want Christian children and youth, we need Christian adults.

40. Vibrant Faith Frame
There are FOUR KEY faith practices that make up the lifestyle of life long faith formation:
Caring Conversation
Devotions
Service
Rituals and Traditions

41. Vibrant Faith Frame AAA Christians
What are the characteristics of discipleship?
Authenticity
Availability
Affirmation
AAA Christians

42. The Vibrant Faith Frame
A framework and vocabulary for summarizing two decades of research relating to faith formation.
6-Circles
5-Principles
4- Key Practices
3- Characteristics of discipleship