Report #4. Practices for Forming Faith with Adolescents
Adolescence is the age period of intense ideological hunger, deep search for meaning and purpose, and near constant yearning for relationships and connectedness. Adolescence is also the age period when many young people make what turns out to be a lifetime commitment to faith and religious practice, while many others turn away from religion altogether (Hardy). What are the factors involved in adolescents going in one direction over the other? How can churches and their leaders position themselves to influence these factors for the overall good of young people themselves, their families, and the church community?
In this article we seek to respond to these four questions:
- What about faith transmission is relevant to adolescents and adolescent faith formation?
- What does the body of literature show are the most important contributors to effective faith formation with adolescents?
- What does the literature show are the activities, tasks, and behaviors that bolster faith formation with adolescents?
- What are the implications for faith formation leaders, and the church community as a whole?
With cogent responses to these four questions, we hope to offer you an overall picture of adolescent faith development and give you insights that can lead to innovative and effective approaches and strategies for adolescents faith development that leads to eventual faith transmission. From that work, we are confident, will emerge best practices for the future of faith formation.
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