Mormon Teens, Protestant Teens: A Review of Kenda Creasy Dean's "Almost Christian"

[MormonHero]

Interesting comparison of Mormon and Protestant (and Catholic?) demands upon teen-agers. I wonder if anyone else has similar, or different, experiences? How can Protestant and Catholic churches do a better job?

One of the researchers in the National Study of Youth and Religion, Princeton Theological Seminary professor Kenda Creasy Dean, now draws upon the data to issue a gentle jeremiad to Protestant congregations. In Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers Is Telling the American Church, she argues that if teenagers don’t have a firm grasp of core Christian doctrines and instead worship at what she calls “the Church of Benign Whatever-ism” – or don’t worship at all – it’s because youth pastors and other leaders have watered down the message, she claims…

Then the book takes a surprising turn. In a chapter called “Mormon Envy,” Dean further indicts Protestant churches by holding up Mormonism as an example of a religious group that is doing right by its teenagers…She says that Mormonism is giving teens the four things they need in order to have a growing adult faith, elements that she develops more fully in Part III:

1. They are sufficiently catechized in beliefs by their own parents and by a spiritual community that expresses consistent expectations…Dean holds up the Mormon tradition of early-morning seminary as an example of successful catechesis at the institutional level, and Family Home Evening as an example of how it can occur in the home. Mormon teens are nearly twice as likely (79%) as other teens to pray with their parents at times other than grace for meals.

1. They need to acquire a personal testimony…More than half of LDS teens (53%) reported giving a talk or presentation in church in the last six months, compared to one in seven Southern Baptist youths and one in twenty-five Catholics. Mormon teens also exercise leadership, which Dean says is a crucial part of faith formation; 48% reported attending a church meeting where they were called upon to make a decision that would be binding on a group…

1. They need concrete religious goals and a sense of vocation.…In Mormonism, children prepare for missions and the temple; start fasting with the community every month at age eight; are expected to pay tithing just like adults; give up time on weekends to clean the church building and do service projects; and actually track these things in personal progress journals.They work toward Eagle Scout status or being a Young Woman of Excellence…

1. They need hope for the future. In Mormonism, Dean says, teens talk confidently about the purpose of this life (which they understand as being tested and growing spiritually so they might return to their Heavenly Parents after death). In Protestantism, she says, there has been an erosion of eschatological hope…What she and Christian Smith call “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” (the idea that religion exists to make me a better person and make me feel good) has so infected Protestantism that she doesn’t quite know how to respond, though she is sure the answer as well as the problem lies with the Christian church.

…I think Dean has raised some excellent questions about the fundamental difference I notice when I go to my [Mormon] church and when I visit my husband’s wonderful Protestant congregation: I love the services and the community there, but at the end of the day, no one ever makes the teens take out the trash. As with other Protestant churches I’ve been to (and the one I served for two years as a student pastor), they love their teenagers, but loving them does not always translate into making them work, or giving them concrete expectations for how they will contribute to the overall health of the congregation (through giving talks, teaching classes, or sharing the gospel). Teens become passive recipients of adult action, not emerging leaders.

 

[kozlosap]

I think that the LDS Church does have a far superior youth program than most churches! The difference is that LDS kids are taught to live in the LDS world and observe the rest of the world but not be an active part of it. I wanted my DD25 to be an active part in both the Church world as a whole and the secular world. The CC serves everyone, not just Catholics - ie hospitals, clinics, AIDS hospice, food banks, Catholic Charities while the LDS Church mainly serves only LDS memebers. We certainly can learn from how the LDS community advocates youth programs. During the 1950’s and 1960’s CYA was much more prevalent, sponsoring dances, camps and missionary trips. Today, most youth activities are parish level only. Hopefully we are able to learn about positive youth programs from many different sources and put the successful ones into force! Walk in Peace with the Lord!

 

[Todd520]

Hi MormonHero,
Thanks for the post, an interesting read. One of the reasons I continued to investigate the LDS church was their ability to execute at the community and family level.

I don’t think the Mormon’s invented anything in the article, they just do it more consistently than other faiths. As kozlosap points out, the CYA was much more active 50 yrs ago, providing structure for youth. It would need to be a top down effort that also shared and nurtured Parish best practices.

 

[Catholic20064]

Interesting comparison of Mormon and Protestant (and Catholic?) demands upon teen-agers. I wonder if anyone else has similar, or different, experiences? How can Protestant and Catholic churches do a better job?

You are correct that LDS wards are more consistent about their youth programs than Catholic youth programs. My parish is a growing parish of about 10,000 people. The reason it has grown so much may be because of the exciting youth program which challenges youth by encouraging vocations, promoting mission trips, offering excellent teaching, etc. I would say many of the youth in my particular Catholic congregation are strongly as Catholic as those of the local Mormon ward are Mormon.

 

[Pahoran]

You are correct that LDS wards are more consistent about their youth programs than Catholic youth programs. My parish is a growing parish of about 10,000 people. The reason it has grown so much may be because of the exciting youth program which challenges youth by encouraging vocations, promoting mission trips, offering excellent teaching, etc. I would say many of the youth in my particular Catholic congregation are strongly as Catholic as those of the local Mormon ward are Mormon.

That’s good to hear.

On my mission, I met a Catholic priest. He was a really nice fellow. As we chatted, he told us that his parish was a very large one, with several standing-room-only services on Sundays and other well-attended services on other days. He then said that they would like to divide the parish, but they couldn’t until they built a new church.

We, of course, do it differently; we create the new ward, then worry about where they are going to meet.

With all those members, how many priests does your parish have?

And do you expect to be dividing it soon, or do you have to wait for a new church building, like they do in Melbourne?

Regards,
Pahoran

 

[PaulDupre]

I also attend a large parish. We have about 3,700 families (14,000 registered members). Our old small church was built in 1957. It now serves as a multi-function hall. The new church was built about 7 years ago and we have already outgrown it. We have 9 masses each weekend. There are 4 full-time priests, one priest who is semi-retired (though you’d never know it) and 2 deacons. No plans to split, but we are in negotiations to buy some land next to the campus for additional parking. There is also a Catholic school attached to the parish.

BTW, our parish welcomes between 45 and 55 converts per year. Also many more who were baptized Catholics as infants and return to the Church as adults. Most of those go through RCIA in preparation to receive First Communion and/or Confirmation. That, along with the growth of our families and the growth of Orange County makes us rather crowded. But that’s a good problem to have!

Paul (a former LDS now happily Catholic)

 

[RebeccaJ]

The last 5 years our diocese has grown by about 20,000 people per year. We’ve had 7 new churches built in that time, 6 were to accommodate parishes that had outgrown their churches. During construction Masses were held in adjacent school facilities or rented spaces.

Youth ministry has grown along with this, since much of the growth has been families with young children.

 

[Catholic20064]

That’s good to hear.

On my mission, I met a Catholic priest. He was a really nice fellow. As we chatted, he told us that his parish was a very large one, with several standing-room-only services on Sundays and other well-attended services on other days. He then said that they would like to divide the parish, but they couldn’t until they built a new church.

We, of course, do it differently; we create the new ward, then worry about where they are going to meet.

With all those members, how many priests does your parish have?

And do you expect to be dividing it soon, or do you have to wait for a new church building, like they do in Melbourne?

Regards,
Pahoran

We have two priests and a staff of four or five paid lay ministry members. The ministry for the youth is staffed by unpaid lay volunteers. There are no plans to divide the parish. The parish just opened a new Catholic elementary school recently.