Got Religion?
How Churches, Mosques, and Synagogues Can Bring Young People Back
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Why are young people dropping out of religious institutions? Can anything be done to reverse the trend? In Got Religion?, Naomi Schaefer Riley examines the reasons for the defection, why we should care, and how some communities are successfully addressing the problem.
The traditional markers of growing up are getting married and becoming financially independent. But young adults are delaying these milestones, sometimes for a full decade longer than
their parents and grandparents. This new phase of “emerging adulthood” is diminishing the involvement of young people in religious institutions, sapping the strength and vitality of faith communities, and creating a more barren religious landscape for the young adults who do eventually decide to return to it. Yet, clearly there are some churches, synagogues, and mosques that are making strides in bringing young people back to religion.
Got Religion? offers in-depth, on-the-ground reporting about the most successful of these institutions and shows how many of the structural solutions for one religious group can be adapted to work for another.
The faith communities young people attach themselves to are not necessarily the biggest or the most flashy. They are not the wealthiest or the ones employing the latest technology. Rather, they are the ones that create stability for young people, that give them real responsibility in a community and that help them form the habits of believers that will last a lifetime.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A former Wall Street Journal editor, Riley (God on the Quad) has written a useful overview of the challenges facing religious congregations as they try to recruit a younger generation to old-timey institutions and traditions. But rather than dwell on the reasons for the religious decline, she provides readers with case studies of seven different faiths that have tried innovative programs to meet the needs of a post-college generation, sometimes identified as "emerging adults." Although all the groups are different, they share a fundamental predicament: keeping their heritage going in an age of distraction. In her reporting, Riley finds that young people want community, a sense of belonging, and an opportunity to serve. Ironically, many college-based religious offerings are too successful; they make it hard for congregations to draw young adults after they've graduated. Roman Catholic groups have tried to recreate a shared living experience through the Alliance for Catholic Education and Jewish groups through Moishe House. Other faiths have tried other approaches. Though there is no magic bullet, the examples in this short volume provide a concise and readable examination of ways to shape future congregational lay leaders.
