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Finding Faith: The Spritual Life of Teens
by Katy AbelHolidays, Holiness, and Adolescence
Christmas Eve. Midnight Mass. The candles on the altar flicker in the darkness. The organ plays "Silent Night." Heads are bowed in prayer.
Christians around the world celebrate the miracle of Christ's birth with Midnight Mass, one of the most sacred and beautiful services of the year. But some parents are disappointed when their teenagers fail to appreciate this cherished religious ritual. After all, wouldn't a 14-year-old boy rather be home with his Play Station than in church singing "Away in a Manger?"
"Kids are less likely to enjoy the service if they have not had much experience with church," says Kenda Dean, Professor of Youth Ministry at the Princeton Theological Seminary. "But then again, if their friends are going, they'll go in a heartbeat!"
A Willingness to Worship
On the other hand, teens raised as churchgoers are more likely to look forward to this annual tradition. "The music on Christmas Eve is part of their own musical lexicon," notes Dean. "Not that they would go out and buy Christmas music on CDs, but these carols, unlike those sung the rest of the year, are part of their musical vocabulary. Also, there are candles. Teenagers love candles -- they are mystical and holy. They hallow the space, unearthing some deep sacred longing that is part of being human."
In fact, national surveys show that teens are attending church not only during the Christmas season, but also throughout the year. In 1998, the Gallup Youth Survey showed:
"Adolescence has always been a heightened spiritual phase in the life cycle," observes Professor Dean. "You're on this search for identity, you're getting your stuff together, deciding what is going to orient your life."
If anything, today's teens appear to be more spiritually inclined than their baby boomer parents, though many are deeply suspicious of institutions in general, and religious ones in particular. Some youth ministers believe traditional services hold little appeal for adolescents.
Ministering to the Teen Flock
"We try to make it look as little like church as possible," says Pastor Blaine Bartel of the successful "Oneighty" youth ministry he runs in Tulsa, Oklahoma. An offshoot of Tulsa's evangelical Church on the Move, Oneighty attracts up to 1500 teens each Wednesday night. Kids enjoy video games, indoor basketball, and free pizza, followed by S-R-O services that feature a rock band and dramatic skits.
"A lot of churches say they care about teens," Oneighty founder Pastor Willie George tells the crowd of cheering kids. "We really do."
"At first I came for the girls and the basketball," admits Daniel G., a teen who attends Oneighty regularly. "Then eventually I saw God and I just felt like, man, I'm here for God. This is so much bigger than anything I imagined."
Nationwide, nearly 100 churches have paid $5,000 each for the right to "franchise" the winning Oneighty formula. Though the church's use of incentives raises some eyebrows -- teens who bring their friends win cash prizes or a ride home from school in a classic car -- the merger of pop culture and religious fervor is clearly the key to its successful youth outreach.
Likewise, a mix of play and prayer attracts teens to the "Board for the Lord" program in Ventura, California. Led by 25-year-old Reverend Ryan Delameter, kids enjoy free skateboarding at an indoor park, then attend a 15-minute Bible lesson.
"It's in our setting and we learn about God," says 16-year-old Tyler Batten.
Some mainstream theologians question the need for skateboards and rock bands.
"There's a degree to which you have to be relevant to what's going on in the world," says Professor Dean. "But by themselves (cultural symbols) don't connect teens to what's holy."
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