TruthBook Religious News Blog

by Dr. George Barna

While most Americans value their faith and regularly engage in faith practices, surprisingly few say they have specific challenges related to the development of their faith. A national survey of Christian parents commissioned by Good News Holdings and conducted by The Barna Group discovered that four out of every 10 Christian parents of children between the ages of three and 18 said they do not face any spiritual challenges in their life. Among those who identified the presence of any spiritual challenges, the most common issues related to the spiritual development of their children.

Wide Range of Concerns

When asked to identify their biggest personal challenges related to faith or spirituality, the most common response related to raising moral children or youngsters with a strong faith. In total, one out of every seven parents (14 percent) who identified themselves as Christian listed this as their spiritual challenge. Only one other response – the need to personally invest more time in religious activities, such as reading the Bible or praying – was mentioned by at least one out of every 10 parents (10 percent).

More than 100 different responses were provided by survey respondents, reflecting the breadth of spiritual issues that Americans struggle with. Other categories of concerns mentioned included the desire to more consistently exhibit faith-driven behavior (eight percent); the need to be more involved in a church (seven percent); effectively dealing with the declining moral values and inappropriate media content in our society (six percent); handling various lifestyle challenges that weaken their faith (five percent); confidently coping with health matters (four percent); and having a deeper or more substantive faith (four percent).

Specific Challenges Posed

Parents were also asked to rate the significance of each of eight specific challenges related to their faith. Overall, the responses suggest that most Christian parents do not perceive themselves to face major challenges regarding their faith.

One out of every three parents (34 percent) said having enough time to devote to their faith was a major challenge. Almost as many (30 percent) said helping their children to become more spiritual was a major challenge.

About two out of every 10 parents listed each of the other six possibilities as major challenges. Those included enabling their spouse to be more spiritual (23 percent); growing spiritually, personally (21 percent); understanding what’s in the Bible (20 percent); finding a church or faith community that’s right for them (19 percent); getting a sense of direction from God (18 percent); and practicing the faith principles they had learned (18 percent).

George Barna is an author, pastor and the founder of The Barna Group in Ventura, Calif., a firm specializing in conducting research for Christian ministries and non-profits.

Labels: Americans, Barna Group, children, faith, George Barna, spirituality, survey