More than half of Christian teens have attended youth group recently. A new Barna study asks a harder question: Is their faith taking root beyond the meeting room?
Barna and Christ In Youth surveyed 1,500 U.S. teens ages 13 to 18 for Reimagining Ministry for Gen Alpha. Among teens who identified as Christian, 57% said they had attended youth group in the previous three months. But among youth group attendees, 29% met Barna’s standard for a “Faith-Activated” teen. Barna reported the attendance findings in September.
To assess active faith, researchers looked at six areas: spiritual practices, evangelism, service, faith in daily life, belonging and calling. Teens who met Barna’s threshold in at least five areas qualified as Faith-Activated. Across all teens surveyed, 18% met that standard. The figures describe different groups and do not show whether youth group attendance caused stronger faith.
Service showed the lowest level of engagement. Barna found that 27% of all teens met its threshold for service, compared with 39% of youth group attendees.
“The data suggests that youth programs are only having moderate success at activating a teen’s faith,” Daniel Copeland, Barna’s vice president of research, said in an article about the findings. He urged churches to ask whether teens “are they better off because they attended?”
Order Sid Roth’s New Book, “The Glory Story” on Amazon.com!
The study also points to the questions teens bring with them. More than three-fourths felt at least some pressure to answer whether their generation will have a stable future. More than half felt pressure to answer whether God is real. Barna found that more than two-thirds were comfortable getting wisdom from Jesus and the Bible.
For churches, the findings offer a clear challenge: Welcome teens into youth group, then help them live out their faith when they leave.
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a journalism background from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and at the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
