The young "nones"

Youth are not the future of the church—they already are the church." That claim is often made by those with a heart for youth ministry. People who work with youth resist the idea that their ministry is a training ground for future ministers, because they know it is more than that: it's the real deal. Youth can be as passionate as any other age group about God, worship, prayer, community, service and justice.

In this issue, Amy Frykholm reports on a program designed to take youth seriously as people of faith and even as theologians. The Youth Theological Initiative challenges high school youth to grow in faith and seeks to put theological seminaries in closer touch with the concerns and questions of youth.

The importance of such work is underscored in a recent landmark study on American religion, American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us, by two political scientists, Robert Putnam of Harvard and David Campbell of Nortre Dame (reviewed in the November 16 Century). Putnam and Campbell devote considerable attention to the rise of the "nones"—the people who, when asked about their religious affiliation, check "none." From 1970 to 1990 this number stayed at about 7 percent, but starting in 1990 the number began to rise sharply, reaching 17 percent in 2010.