Faith begins at the dinner table, not the pew, new research suggests

FIRST ON FOX A new assessment suggests a person s connection to faith may start at home not at church Communio a nonprofit that uses data-driven ministry and practical tools to strengthen families partnered with Harvard to assessment how childhood faith experiences shape Christians later in life In the Pew Research Center communicated that of U S adults were religiously unaffiliated Communio sought to identify the key factors behind generational faith and how parents can pass their faith to their children Communio s survey identified that absolutely talking about faith in childhood can shape how children live it out as adults Past research has shown that the increase in religious non-affiliation is the effect of generational succession meaning each younger generation is on average less religious than the last On a fundamental level the so-called rise of the nones is the effect of older generations being less effective at sharing the Gospel with younger ones JP De Gance founder and president of Communio and author of the Pastor s Guide mentioned A survey of more than churchgoing adults exposed regular childhood conversations about faith to be one of the strongest predictors of practicing faith in adulthood Churchgoers who had regular conversations about faith in childhood released higher forgiveness towards those who hurt them and a greater sense of belonging to their church region according to the survey GEN Z MEN RETURNING TO CHURCH IN SURPRISING NUMBERS IN FAITH RESURGENCEAdditionally Communio and Harvard discovered that churchgoers who recalled having at least weekly talks with their parents about faith had more than times higher odds of having regular conversations about faith with their own children The odds rose for those who recalled having daily conversations giving them more than times higher odds of having those same talks with their own children according to the statement However despite acknowledging the impact of conversations about faith on their lives less than half of churchgoers who answered the survey question announced having at least weekly talks with their own children The good news here is any Christian parent not already having these conversations with their kids can take a step in the modern day to make this a regular part of their routine De Gance noted CATHOLIC GROUP GIVES COPIES OF THE GOSPELS TO COLLEGE STUDENTS ON CAMPUSES NATIONWIDE Beyond the importance of conversations with parents the analysis unveiled that fathers in particular have an central role to play in their children s faith Communio's latest working paper uncovered that churchgoing adults were more likely to attend church regularly in adulthood if they informed attending church with their own dad weekly or more frequently in childhood at age In addition to more regular church attendance the assessment located a good or very good relationship with one's father to be linked to higher forgiveness and a greater sense of belonging to their church group In a surprising twist Communio determined that a better relationship with one's father was associated with a lower likelihood of having open conversations about faith with one's own children While the input in this working paper are not able to address the question of why this might be the event this finding provides a pastoral teaching opportunity Multiple good things can come from dads going to church and having a positive relationship with their children but these are not necessarily 'silver bullets the Pastor's Guide says The guide states that open conversations about faith might be an fundamental piece of the puzzle when it comes to generational faith When it comes to implementing faith-filled conversations the Pastor's Guide suggests parents sanctify everyday moments such as running errands or eating dinner by having short and open-ended conversations about faith in those instances This can include exclusively asking your child what he or she is grateful to God for that day Chosen examples of questions include How did you see God show up in your life this week and What should we pray for in contemporary times The guide also stresses that parents don't need to be theologians or biblical scholars to have these conversations Communio exposed that entirely having open conversations encouraging faith can be the answer