The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Teenagers

The National Study of Youth & Religion has just published its first major findings after three years of study, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers, by Christian Smith with Melinda Lundquist Denton, published by Oxford University Press.

The National Study of Youth and Religion, is funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. and is under the direction of Dr. Christian Smith, Professor of Sociology, based at the Odum Institute for Research in Social Science at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They list their purpose as this:

"to research the shape and influence of religion and spirituality in the lives of American adolescents; to identify effective practices in the religious, moral, and social formation of the lives of youth; to describe the extent and perceived effectiveness of the programs and opportunities that religious communities are offering to their youth; and to foster an informed national discussion about the influence of religion in youth's lives, in order to encourage sustained reflection about and rethinking of our cultural and institutional practices with regard to youth and religion." (Source)