1. VIBRANT FAITH MINISTRIES Three Decades of Research Can’t All Be Wrong!

2. The "Great Emergence" is a generalized social, political, economic, intellectual, and cultural shift.

3. Every 500 years or so, the church—and the world—experience huge social, political, economic, and cultural shifts. "Every 500 years the church feels compelled to hold a giant rummage sale."

4. 500 Year Cycles  Time of Christ  Monastic Culture & Dark Ages  Great Schism: East-West  Reformation  Great Emergence

5. IT’S ALWAYS ABOUT AUTHORITY!  New, nimble ministries emerge  Older systems renew themselves  Older systems push back  Violent! WHAT HAPPENS?

6. We do ministry in the world of…kindle, nook, twitter parties, APPS, declining denominationalism, house churches, flipboards, emergent churches, wiki’s, the long tail, micro- chunking, facebook, veetle, hulu, stumble, ning, amazon, web 2.0, iphones, ipads, and you can get viral without catching a cold.

7. REGARDING CHRISTIAN DECLINE IN AMERICA… AMERICAN GRACE: PUTNAM AND CAMPBELL The rise of the “nones”! “I’ll have none of it!” Perceive Christians as fighting, judgmental, hypocritical, political, ungracious, harsh, ignorant.

8. Think Guttenberg on STEROIDS!

9. …only IN REVERSE! The Book of Faith (10 pound edition) Vs. The APP

11. So what can be said? Does anything work anymore? MAYBE WE JUST NEED…

12. What can be said is what has always been said…from Deuteronomy…to Jesus… Acts 2…to Luther…to current research… TEND TO THE YOUNG “ACROSS” GENERATIONS and CHURCH IS A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE HOUSEHOLD AND THE CONGREGATION

13. “If we wish to help Christendom, we most certainly must start with the children!” Martin Luther

14. How best can we do that? And now the research story!

15. Effective Christian Education: A National Study of Protestant Congregations: 1988-89 Search Institute Focus: Who do 7-12 graders identify as the key faith formative influences in their lives?

16. The Results: Mother74% female81% male Father50% female61% male Pastor44% female57% male Grandparent29% female30% male Youth group30% female30% male Friends29% female22% male Camp28% female20% male

17. 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?

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

19. 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?

20. Adolescent Health Study cont. “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.”

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

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

23. What Are Adults/Parents Bringing to the Table?

24. Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers: Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton ’05 Focus: What is the character and content of the spiritual lives of American teenagers? What shapes that character and content?

25. 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

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

27. 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.

28. Longitudinal Follow-up: Five of the six scenarios identifying faithful and active young adults started with “parents” practices and “parents” attending religious services

30. Exemplary Youth Ministry Study: Luther Seminary, Lilly Funded, Seven Denominations – 2005 (book just came out!!!) Focus: What are the characteristics of congregations with exemplary youth ministries?

31. The Results: Study identified 44 Faith Assets or Practices Of most significance: 1.Theology matters: God is the subject of sentences 2.Pastoral leaders are fully engaged in ministry with adolescents 3.Hospitality is critical

32. Exemplary Study cont. Family Involvement: 1.Parents possess and practice a strong faith 2.Promotes family faith practices 3.Reflects family harmony 4.Equip, instruct and guide parents for a faith nurturing home 5.Fosters parent-youth relationships

33. Bishops’ Initiative for Raising Up the Next Generation of Leaders Focus: Does a five year effort (and $1.2 million) to embed the Vibrant Faith Frame in six synods of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan transform lives and help people discover their vocation?

34. The Results The Vibrant Faith Frame has significant impact upon those immersed in the ecosystem of faith nurture. The leadership is critical to implementing the frame.

35. The Vibrant Faith Frame 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.

37. The Vibrant Faith Frame Five Principles to serve as a compass heading for ministry: 1.Faith is formed by the power of the Holy Spirit through personal, trusted relationships-often in our own homes. 1.The church is a living partnership between home and congregation.

38. Vibrant Faith Frame 3. Where Christ is present in faith, home is church, too. 4. Faith is caught more than taught. 5. If we want Christian children and youth, we need Christian adults.

39. All who are called masters, stand in the place of parents. Luther, Large Catechism, Explanation of the 4 th Commandment

40. Vibrant Faith Frame There are FOUR KEY faith practices that make up the lifestyle of lifelong faith formation: 1.Caring Conversation 2.Devotions 3.Service 4.Rituals and Traditions

41. Vibrant Faith Frame 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

43. If we want to help Christendom, we most certainly have to start with the children. Martin Luther

44. “Let the children come to me and do not hinder them.” Luke 18

45. …and there is more research Vibrant Faith Ministries’ Faith Formation Learning Exchange “one stop shop” for effective faith practices through the lifecycle www.faithformationlearningexchange.net

46. VibrantFaith@Home: resourcing households directly Think iTunes for faith formation (iFaith)

47. VIBRANT FAITH MINISTRIES is sponsored in part by… Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and Seafoam Sales Vibrant Faith Ministries  1601 West Old Shakopee Road, Minneapolis, MN 55431  952-405-7300  www.vibrantfaith.orgwww.vibrant

48. The following slides are “Extras”

50. “Great Emergence” Social Characteristics  First Generation of Truly Global Citizens  First E.C.E (Energy-Climate) Generation  Most Culturally Diverse Generation  First Social Networking Generation  First Entrepreneurial Generation  Most Socially Engaged Generation  First Generation of 21 st Century Learners  First Generation of the "Great Emergence"  First Generation of "Spiritual Tinkerers"

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

52. 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

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

54. 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

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

56. The Results: The study identified seven themes that make up the spiritual character and journey of younger men. (See book by same title, www.vibrantfaith.org). Three practices or behaviors best summarize an effective approach:www.vibrantfaith.org Be Real Show Respect Work Together