What's in it for 'we'?

Quote du jour: It is doubtless true that religion has been the world's psychiatrist throughout the centuries ~ Karl Menninger

A few weeks ago I was talking to someone about ‘marketing’ church to families who already have so much going on in their lives. Church, youth groups and Sunday School are on a long list of worthy activities demanding time and attention. Although most of us 'think' that church is a good idea, sociologists actually study this stuff. I promised to write about one of the oft invoked studies I have alluded to. The link to the full study report is below. I’ll let you find the cites.

A three staged longitudinal study from the National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR) has been recently published. The authors of the study conclude make affirmative conclusions regarding the role of religion and church attendance in the lives of our young people. There are a number of positive outcomes. Here’s one - This study determined that for early adolescents (aged 12 to 14), parental involvement in worship services even just once a week produced significant results in strengthened relationships with their parents.

But that’s not the only information. As much as the studies and reports describe what church can give our children, church can also protect them on the way to adulthood. I quote sociologist Christian Smith “studies that have included religion measures (especially church attendance and importance of religious faith) have found them to be inversely related to juvenile drug, alcohol and tobacco use, and to delinquency. . . Multiple studies also confirm that religiosity is inversely related to thoughts of suicide, attempted suicide and actual suicide among American teenagers. Religiosity also appears to act as a protective influence against suicide among youth most at risk for it. Furthermore religion is associated with lower levels of depression and hopelessness. . .”

The findings of this study affirm the positive benefits of adolescents living in religiously involved families. They enjoy stronger, more positive relationships with their parents than early adolescents whose families are not so involved. Religiously active families are also more likely to create environments where their youth feel supported and teenagers are more likely to seek help from a parent if some assistance is needed. With alienation and uncertainty awaiting our children in much of their lives, we should find ways to get them into our churches, not only for what we ‘get’ from the experience, but from what we do not.

Hmmmmm. Think about it. When you make those important decisions about time.

See you in church!