A recent Barna study shows it is very important to engaged Christian parents that their child develops a lasting faith. If the goal is to impart a vibrant, lasting faith to the next generation, the current state of affairs is not promising: Christianity has less of a hold on Gen Z than on any previous age group. Fewer U.S. teens than adults believe core theological tenets of the Christian faith—and teens who do make orthodox faith claims are not quite as sure about them as adults. Most of us form our values and assumptions before the age of 20, so it’s vitally important to reassess our discipleship priorities and methods—and adjust as necessary. In this excerpt from Barna’s major study of Generation Zu,/u conducted in partnership with Impact 360 Institute, we take a look at the discipleship interactions that today’s teens have with their parents and youth pastors.

Parents Want a Lasting Faith for Their Children More than nine out of 10 engaged Christian parents (those who identify as Christian, regularly attend church and have orthodox beliefs) say it is important that their child “is equipped to explain the Christian faith” and is “engaged in service”—likely as elements of the overall goal of strong adult faith.

Who owns the responsibility to develop their teen’s faith? According to engaged Christian parents, they do. Three out of five say that they, the parents, are primarily responsible (59%) and more than one-third says that it’s mostly them, with the help of church leaders (36%). They approach this in a variety of ways, including attending church together (89%), praying together (59%), reading / discussing the Bible together (45%) and volunteering / serving with a ministry together (44%).

Three out of five engaged Christians parents feel primarily responsible for developing their teen’s faith. 36 percent says that it’s mostly them, with the help of church leaders.