Upon reviewing the National Study on Youth and Religion, Dr. Kendra Creasy-Dean of Princeton Theological Seminary theorized about why some faith traditions were able to claim “success” as their young people seemed to be “topping the charts” in terms of spiritual vitality, depth of religious understanding, salience of faith in their daily lives, hope for the future, and general wellbeing as adolescents. If Mormons, conservative Protestants, and black Protestants were the “winners” of the study, then Catholics certainly seemed to have considerable room to grow.

Creasy Dean suggested that the room for improvement might be found in the whole faith community being more intentional in offering young people the resources that come from the faith community itself. The deficits in addressing young people do not demand a program being brought into the community to solve the “problem.” The solutions can we found within.

Creasy Dean suggested that the church provide young people anchors for a lifelong religious identity. She identified these as 1) a creed to believe, 2) a place to belong, 3) a call to live out, and 4) a hope to hold onto