ABOUT THIS BOOK

Why are young people dropping out of religious institutions? Can anything be done to reverse the trend? In Got Religion?, Naomi Schaefer Riley examines the reasons for the defection, why we should care, and how some communities are successfully addressing the problem.

The traditional markers of growing up are getting married and becoming financially independent. But young adults are delaying these milestones, sometimes for a full decade longer than their parents and grandparents. This new phase of “emerging adulthood” is diminishing the involvement of young people in religious institutions, sapping the strength and vitality of faith communities, and creating a more barren religious landscape for the young adults who do eventually decide to return to it. Yet, clearly there are some churches, synagogues, and mosques that are making strides in bringing young people back to religion.

Got Religion? offers in-depth, on-the-ground reporting about the most successful of these institutions and shows how many of the structural solutions for one religious group can be adapted to work for another.

The faith communities young people attach themselves to are not necessarily the biggest or the most flashy. They are not the wealthiest or the ones employing the latest technology. Rather, they are the ones that create stability for young people, that give them real responsibility in a community and that help them form the habits of believers that will last a lifetime.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Naomi Schaefer Riley is a weekly columnist for the New York Post and a former Wall Street Journal editor. She is the author of Til Faith Do Us Part: How Interfaith Marriage Is Transforming America, God on the Quad, and The Faculty Lounges. She lives with her husband, Jason, and their three children in suburban New York City.

REVIEWS

“Naomi Schaefer Riley is an astute cultural observer and critic, and a very good interpreter of the larger meanings and implications of social science research. For those concerned about the religious live of emerging adults, Got Religion? will be essential reading.”
—Christian Smith, William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Sociology and principle investigator, National Study of Youth and Religion

“In researching and writing Got Religion? Naomi Schaefer Riley has accomplished a difficult task. She has managed to make fairly dense millennial generation demographic material both interesting and understandable. She has also connected the dots in illustrating how such material is relevant and instructive to those who seek to ‘bring young people back’ to their various faith traditions.”
—Dr. Richard Land, president of Southern Evangelical Seminary

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“The precipitous drop in religious affiliation among young people in the United States has been covered to the point of exhaustion—often generating more heat than light. In Got Religion? Naomi Schaefer Riley weaves together a compelling counter narrative that focuses on the best examples of how various communities—Judaism, Catholicism, non-denominational Christianity and Islam—are successfully engaging young people. It is a study in American ingenuity, insight and reinvention as it applies to faith communities and it should be read by anyone in the field who believes that studying what works is the best way to fix what's wrong.”
—Bill McGarvey, author of The Freshman Survival Guide

“Got Religion? offers two reassuring messages to those worried that the under-thirty generation is running away from religion. First, it shows that the problem is not confined to particular faiths. Mormons and Muslims turn out to be as concerned as Catholics, Protestants and Jews. Second, it demonstrates that creative programs can succeed in luring young people back to religion. There is reason for hope. Chocked full of ideas and insights, this is a book that anyone interested in ‘youth engagement’ should read.”
—Jonathan D. Sarna, president, Association for Jewish Studies; the Joseph Engel Visiting Professor of American Jewish Studies, Harvard University; the Joseph H. Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History; and chair, Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program, Brandeis University

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface / vii
Introduction / 1
Location, Location, Location:
How the Theology of Place Is Plugging Young Adults back into Their Communities and Their Churches / 17
The All-American Mosque:
How Shedding Immigrant Ways Can Reshape Islam in the United States / 35
Joining the Service:
How the Catholic Church Is Training a New Generation of Laypeople to Be Spiritual Leaders / 55
What’s NEXT?
Channeling the Enthusiasm of Birthright Israel into a Permanent Jewish Commitment / 73
A Ward of Their Own:
How the Mormon Church Is Turning Twenty-Somethings into Community Leaders / 91
When No One Needs Church Anymore, How Do You Make Them Want It?
The Relevance of the Black Church in the Twenty- First Century / 107
The End of Sheep Stealing:
How Churches Can Collaborate to Bring Twenty-Somethings Back into the Fold / 123
Conclusion / 139
Notes / 155
Index / 157

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