As Gen Z makes way for Gen Alpha, perhaps you’ve wondered whether your existing youth ministry practices will reach a new generation. We youth ministers love our students and want to see them thrive as lifelong followers of Jesus. But teenagers are not a monolith—and culture is changing fast. We want to know how to serve the students in front of us today.
Tapping into this desire to understand teenagers and discipleship, Barna recently published a study in partnership with Christ in Youth (CIY). The study examines “active, holistic Christian faith” in the lives of teenagers, making it insightful for youth ministers wondering about the ethos of today’s students.
The Study’s Scope
The teenagers Barna surveyed ranged in age from 13 to 18, representing the youngest members of Gen Z and the oldest of Gen Alpha. To better understand this survey group’s emerging faith, Barna used six categories of measurement: 1) spiritual practice (prayer and Bible study), 2) evangelism, 3) service, 4) integrated faith (choices and identity), 5) belonging, and 6) calling (specifically to ministry or missions).
Each category included two survey questions asking students to self-report on their spiritual practices and priorities. The study scored each of the six categories on a 0-100 scale, counting a score of 75 or higher as representative of “active” faith in a given area. Students who reported regularly attending youth group scored higher in all six categories than their non-attending peers—but not dramatically so.
Summarizing the Results
Barna also looked at the overlap between the six areas to get a more holistic picture of Christian faith and practice. In the survey of all teenagers, including both churched and unchurched students, only 18% are active in at least five of the survey categories. 29% report being active in three to four areas, which Barna calls “exploring” faith. Finally, 53% of all teenagers report being active in two or fewer categories. Barna refers to these students as spiritually “disengaged.”
Perhaps unsurprising to youth ministers, 29% of survey participants who actively attend youth group scored as “active” in at least five of the six areas studied (note that this is a different statistic than the middle group above). Within our youth ministries, we often see a handful of students growing in faith more rapidly than others. For example, students who ask to meet with a leader to talk about the Bible, serve in other areas of church life, or take initiative to welcome new students. We all want to know how to actively disciple more students, and the Barna x CIY study offers perspective.
The 80-page Barna x CIY study contains a significant amount of data—enough for several articles. In the summary below, I’ll share several key takeaways to help gospel-centered youth ministers adapt their discipleship efforts for today’s teenagers.
Takeaways for Youth Ministers
1.) Teenagers need us to take the Bible seriously.
Students in the Barna x CIY study who demonstrated active faith largely reported that Bible teaching is a clear priority in their youth ministries (p. 14). 72% of “faith-activated youth group attendees” said their youth group invites them to think deeply about the Bible and theology and allows them to ask hard questions about faith.
Other findings related to Scripture reveal a complicated relationship between teenagers and the Bible. Positively speaking, 66% of all teenagers surveyed say they look to the Bible when they need advice, ranking Scripture behind parents, friends, and teachers but ahead of YouTube (p. 22). That number increases to 78% of teenagers whose faith is considered “active.” Meanwhile, only 40% of all students surveyed report that the Bible has “a great deal” of influence over who they are becoming as people.
The study also gives us a glimpse into the beliefs of self-identified Christian teenagers (a broader group than the “faith-activated” teenagers). Only 58% of these students affirm the historicity of Christ’s resurrection. Even fewer survey participants who identify themselves as Christians have a high view of Scripture. Roughly half or less agree with the statements “The Bible is the inspired word of God and contains truth about the world” (54%) and “The Bible is accurate in all of the principles it teaches” (43%). These findings highlight a disconnect between self-reported Christian identity and robust Christian faith, revealing urgent opportunities for discipleship at church and at home.
Recommendation: Make knowing God through his Word your priority.
The research backs up what we know to be true biblically: God uses his Word to form disciples in the faith (Matt. 28:19-20; John 8:31-32). Therefore, as we disciple our students to grow in relationship with God, we must prioritize opening his Word with them. And it’s critical that we teach teenagers how to study the Bible for themselves in the context of community—a vital skill they will need as lifelong disciples of Jesus.
Teenagers also need us to engage the big questions they face in the world head-on. Given this study’s discouraging statistics on students’ confidence in the historicity of the resurrection and the reliability of the Bible, I would urge youth ministers to work through these foundational topics at least annually, revisiting them in discussion throughout the year. Since some of these topics are in question even for students who are already following Christ, we want to share winsomely and invite their honest questions.
2.) Teenagers want to know they belong.
Barna’s research found that belonging is a key to fostering active faith (p. 13). 63% of all teenagers reported wishing they spent more time disconnecting from the online world—and that number rose to 74% of teenagers with active faith in Christ. Well over half of students who regularly attend youth group reported feeling that their leaders and peers genuinely care about them, and that they therefore feel a sense of belonging in the group. This finding doesn’t prove causation for attending youth group, but the correlation is striking nevertheless: Belonging is a strong pull for participating in a Christian community.
Recommendation: Make youth group the most welcoming place.
In our digital age, teenagers have more reasons than ever to stay home from youth group. With a glowing screen offering endless entertainment and even digital “community,” students are less inclined to move out of their comfort zones into embodied community. Therefore, it is vital that we labor by God’s grace to make our youth ministries places of radical belonging.
Creating a culture of welcome begins with training our adult leaders to greet students by name and express genuine interest in their lives. It continues with equipping our current students to reach out in friendship to newcomers. We must also help students actively resist the temptation to create an impenetrable “insider” group. The gospel is our best apologetic here, since in Jesus, we who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ (Eph. 2:13).
Youth ministers can foster a culture of belonging by following up with new students and those who haven’t attended for a week or more, as well as by teaching the Bible in a way that welcomes skeptics. The younger generations are hungry for a place to belong, and that is what the gospel gives us through the local church.
3.) Teenagers still look to their parents as their top influence.
Barna’s study found that for teenagers, influence begins first with parents, then friends, then the Bible and the Church (pp. 22-23). 67% of teenagers say their parents have “a big influence” on who they are becoming. 84% say they feel comfortable going to their moms for advice, and 78% say the same about their dads. Barna synthesizes these findings like this: “The youth ministries best positioned to form faith may be the ones that equip parents to disciple their teenagers at home” (p. 22).
Recommendation: Make the effort to partner with parents (and grandparents!).
While it’s tempting to focus our pastoral care and discipleship efforts on students alone, the statistics again reinforce a biblical principle: Discipleship starts at home (Ex. 12:25-27; Deut. 6:1-8). If we want to shepherd our students well, we must not neglect relationships with their parents or other caregivers. This means we’ll need to devote time each week to communicating with parents, meeting them, and praying for them. The goal of youth ministry should be to reinforce what Christian parents and grandparents do at home, not to replace or contradict it.
As we care for a generation of students whose parents may have viewed church participation as optional, we’ll also need to look for creative ways to disciple some of the parents in our ministries. Starting a family ministry Sunday school class or a regular parent prayer group can provide parents with an avenue to meet and learn from one another. There are likely some godly adults in your church who could come alongside the youth ministry to create these kinds of equipping venues for parents. Whatever we do, we must regularly resist the pull to minister to teenagers in a silo.
4.) Teenagers need to integrate their faith and practice.
Barna and CIY identified service as a gap in helping teenagers grow into active faith, with service being the lowest-scoring category at 27 percent of all teenagers and 66 percent of those active in their faith (p. 8). Meanwhile, teenagers express big concerns about the world they live in, with nearly half saying they are “very concerned” about violence, conflict, or war (44%). Nearly half of Christian teens also report that they want to follow Jesus in a way that connects with the world around them (48%), and that number rises to well over half for faith-activated teenagers (68%).
Recommendation: Make missional service a key feature of youth group.
Finding regular ways to help students put their faith into practice can be challenging for many churches since youth ministry programming typically takes place in a church building or home. Youth ministers will need to think creatively to help students take what they are learning together from the Bible and apply it in tangible ways.
Consider starting within the local church body by offering regular help and friendship to elderly church members or those with disabilities. Students could organize a monthly gathering on youth group night and invite these intergenerational friends to participate. Or perhaps there is a local ministry with whom the youth ministry could partner on a quarterly basis, giving of their time and talent. Help teenagers integrate their learning by inviting them to apply what they’ve recently read in Scripture to serving others in the name of Jesus.
5.) Look out for over-extended students.
The Barna x CIY study found a significant correlation between faith activation and indicators of emotional burnout. The study reflects: “Consider that 42 percent of Faith-Activated teens frequently feel emotionally grounded (vs. 30% of all teens)—yet one-third of this group (34%) frequently feels emotionally or mentally exhausted (vs. 19%). This is just one of the many loops in their emotional rollercoaster…Accordingly, they sometimes feel like they are ‘performing a version of myself for others’ (44% [of teenagers with active faith] vs. 28% [of all teenagers])” (p. 29).
It seems likely that students who are motivated to pursue their faith in active ways also tend to be overextended in other areas of life. In other words, teenagers who express active faith may be the ones who most need to hear and remember the rest of the gospel.
Recommendation: Make pastoral care the goal over programs.
Youth ministers will do well to consider this correlation as we disciple students who present as very serious about their faith. For example, before we ask them to take on more at church in the form of student leadership or service, we can prayerfully reflect on their other commitments. Perhaps we can speak with their parents about how to serve them holistically.
When we meet with students one-on-one or in smaller groups, we ought to ask about their overall bandwidth and emotional well-being in order to discern where they may need our support and prayer. We should be cautious of assuming teenagers have it all together, but instead should assume that they often feel pressure. As shepherds following the true Shepherd, may we help to carry students’ burdens, even as we call them to follow Jesus in self-sacrificing ways.
Leading the teenagers in our ministries in the midst of generational and societal change is no small task. Thankfully, we serve a great Savior, who knows their needs better than we could ever hope to. As we look to Jesus, may we love and serve teenagers well by his grace, in his strength. And may we see many of them come into his kingdom as he draws them to himself.
Looking for ways to help your teenagers dig deeply into God’s word? God With You is a 52-week, chronological devotional exploring God’s story. Through it, teenagers will experience Jesus as the lifter of their burdens and the source of their rest and hope.
