S
stumbler
Guest
By Amanda Van Benschoten
The Sunday Challenger
Trend is Toward Inner-Directed Faith
COVINGTON - Youth and young adult programs in the Diocese of Covington could be in jeopardy following next month’s planned layoffs. The Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry will lose its small staff, and it is unclear what, if any, plans are in place to keep the office open.
Office Director Beth Worland said that youth ministers throughout the diocese hope to continue the office’s work, but the diocese is still forming a plan.
The staff reductions come on the heels of a recent national study that found Catholic youth are generally less religious than other denominations, and tend to be more disengaged from institutionalized religion.
That’s due to more upward social mobility among Catholic families, a decline in parents’ religious involvement and the “Americanization” of Catholicism, according to the study.
The findings present a challenge for the diocese and the Catholic Church at large, already struggling with retaining and attracting youth in our increasingly secular, “me”-oriented society.
The National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR) also found that teens of all denominations tend to gravitate toward the idea of religion as a personal matter that simply means leading a good life. They also identify with a deity that’s more forgiving and less demanding than the one found in most Christian religions…
Full article
The Sunday Challenger
Trend is Toward Inner-Directed Faith
COVINGTON - Youth and young adult programs in the Diocese of Covington could be in jeopardy following next month’s planned layoffs. The Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry will lose its small staff, and it is unclear what, if any, plans are in place to keep the office open.
Office Director Beth Worland said that youth ministers throughout the diocese hope to continue the office’s work, but the diocese is still forming a plan.
The staff reductions come on the heels of a recent national study that found Catholic youth are generally less religious than other denominations, and tend to be more disengaged from institutionalized religion.
That’s due to more upward social mobility among Catholic families, a decline in parents’ religious involvement and the “Americanization” of Catholicism, according to the study.
The findings present a challenge for the diocese and the Catholic Church at large, already struggling with retaining and attracting youth in our increasingly secular, “me”-oriented society.
The National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR) also found that teens of all denominations tend to gravitate toward the idea of religion as a personal matter that simply means leading a good life. They also identify with a deity that’s more forgiving and less demanding than the one found in most Christian religions…
Full article