"Less than half of the teens with Episcopalian parents report attending church once a month or more." So says The National Study of Youth and Religion, a research project being conducted at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill under the direction of Dr. Christian Smith.
In a just-issued companion document to the recently-published book "Soul Searching," the document says:
* Forty-five percent of Protestant teens report attending church at least once a week.
Forty-one percent of all teens report attending church at least once a week, and only 9
percent of unaffiliated teens say they attend at least once a week. At the low end of
church attendance, less than half of the teens with Episcopalian parents report
attending church once a month or more.
* Slightly more than one-half of all Protestant teens (55 percent) report going to Sunday
school at least a few times a month in the last year. Teens whose parents are
affiliated with conservative and black Protestant denominations are more likely than
mainline Protestant teens to regularly participate in Sunday school. Conversely, only
38 percent of teens whose parents are affiliated with the Disciples of Christ and 23
percent of teens whose parents are Episcopalian report regular Sunday school
participation.
* Almost half of Protestant teens (47 percent) say they are currently in a religious
youth group, while only 38 percent of all teens and 12 percent of unaffiliated teens
say the same. The differences among the specific denominations generally follow the
conservative/mainline differences. Seventy-one percent of Assemblies of God teens, for
example, report youth group activity while only 25 percent of Disciples of Christ and
34 percent of Episcopalian teens say they are currently in a youth group.
* About one-third of Protestant teens (32 percent) report reading the Bible by themselves
once a week or more. Teens whose parents are affiliated with conservative and black
Protestant denominations are more likely than teens whose parents are affiliated with
mainline denominations to report reading the Bible at least once a week. Well over 40
percent of Assemblies of God and Church of God in Christ teens say they read the Bible
alone at least once a week while only 22 percent of Disciples of Christ and 8 percent
of Episcopalian teens say they read the Bible alone at least once a week.
* Of the Episcopalian teens surveyed, 35 percent of Episcopalian teens who attend church more than a few times a year say that most or all adults in their congregations are hypocrites.
To read the report: click here.
Posted by mbarlowe at May 23, 2005 05:17 PM