To ask youth workers and parents:
1. When you read on book’s first page that “we’re responsible,” did you count yourself among the “we” being referred to? If so, how did it feel? If not, who do you think “we” means? (page 3)
2. Does the National Study of Youth and Religion reflect your congregation? Would the study’s outcomes have been significantly different if they profiled “us” (adults) instead of “them” (youth)?
3. This book is about our teenagers, but it is also about us—the congregations, pastors, parents, and Christian adults who are “charged with ‘handing on’ the good news of Jesus Christ to the teenagers on our watch.” In order to look at the version of Christianity that we are handing on, let’s look at the way we first received it. Who handed the good news of Jesus Christ on to you? How did they do this? What did they show you and teach you? (page 6)
4. Do you agree with Dean’s statement that “most youth ministry is not accomplished by youth ministers”? Who is doing it? (page 11)
5. Read the “Guiding Beliefs of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” in the shaded box. Now say the Apostles’ Creed. What are the differences? Do those differences matter to you? (page 14)
6. The first finding of the NSYR showed that teens are not hostile toward religion, but they do not care much about it. Religion just isn’t a big deal to them. Are teenagers these days passionate about anything? If not religion, where are they placing their energy and passion? What is a big deal to them? Why? What can churches learn from this? (page 17-18)
7. What is your reaction to the news that “parents are by far the most important predictors of teenagers’ religious lives”? (page 18)
8. The most recent longitudinal follow-up in the National Study of Youth and Religion modifies the finding that highly religious youth do much better in life than their less religious peers. In follow-up interviews with teenagers in the NSYR, sociologists Lisa Pearce and Melinda Denton found that highly religious youth do fare better in a number of ways than most other youth—but so do non-religious young people (A Faith of Their Own [Oxford, 2010]). Moderately religious young people struggled the most in life. The researchers speculate that cognitive dissonance—inconsistency between espoused belief and behavior—in moderately religious young people may account for the finding. What do you think? Are there any risks in advocating religion for adolescents as a protective measure? (page 19-21)
To ask teenagers:
1. Which adult in your life does your faith/religious beliefs most resemble? Why do you think your faith is much like theirs? How is your faith different from theirs?
2. A lot of teenagers say religion is fine, it’s just not a big deal to them. Yet passion means loving something enough that you are willing to suffer or make sacrifices for it. What or whom are you passionate about? What sacrifices have you made for that activity/person? What are you most focused on in your life?
3. Read the “Guiding Beliefs of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” on page 14. Now read the Apostles’ Creed. What are the differences? Do those differences matter to you? (page 14)
4. Can you think of an example when your faith made a difference in a decision you made at school, home, or with your friends? What happened? How often does faith enter into your decision-making?
