What Role Can Churches Play In At-Risk Prevention?
By Carolyn H. Eklin and Eugene C. Roehlkepartain
(From February 1992, Source Newsletter)
"For many children, religion is a major force in their moral development; for some,
it is the chief determinant of moral behavior."
National Commission on Children
"Communities are really hungry [for] and very responsive to congregational involvement.
In fact, a social agency staff person said to one of our church groups, 'We never knew
the churches cared like we do.' . . . In many ways, these congregations are reasserting
what the church has been historically, that is, an agency of community concern. "
Carl S. Dudley
Director, Center for Church and Community Ministries
The call is growing stronger: From government to national organizations to local communities,
leaders are rediscovering that congregations have resources, experience, commitments, and
values that can strengthen community-wide efforts to promote the well-being of children and adolescents.
Yet, active partnerships between community organizations and congregations tend to be the
exception, not the rule. Thus both religious institutions and communities need to re-examine
the role of faith communities in caring for our young if both are to be more effective in their
efforts to nourish healthy development.
What Congregations Offer
Research suggests that faith institutions can contribute to community-wide youth development
efforts in three key areas:
- Reducing Risky Behaviors. Though church-going youth are clearly at risk, their levels of
at-risk behaviors are lower than in the general population. Studies have repeatedly pointed
to the positive impact of religiousness on behavior.
We examined the responses of more than 46,000 youth in public schools on 18 at-risk indicators,
using data from The Troubled Journey: A Portrait of 6th-12th Grade Youth. Youth who attended
religious services at least once or twice a month (active youth) were nearly half as likely to
engage in any of the at-risk behaviors than those who rarely or never attended religious services
(inactive youth). This finding holds true for all ages and for both males and females.
- Building A Values Base. One of the reasons religiousness may promote healthy development is
that it creates a values base from which young people make decisions. Youth who decide not to
engage in negative behaviors often do so because of their value system. Religious, family, and
social values can, and often do, lead to responsible decision-making.
From the national in-depth evaluation of Values & Choices, a 7th and 8th grade sexuality education
curriculum that emphasizes values, we have corroborating information: The greatest influence on the
intention not to engage in sexual intercourse is whether or not the student feels it is against her
or his values to do so.
- Involving People Across The Life Span. Many institutions only touch a single segment of
the community. Schools, for example, work with students, but it is more difficult for them to
connect with parents. Social service agencies generally touch a particular segment of the population.
Businesses usually appeal to and address a specific market sector.
Faith institutions, in contrast, often touch a cross-section of people. Nationally, 40 percent of
Americans say they attend worship regularly, and 65 percent hold membership in a church or synagogue.
Thus faith institutions have the collective potential to touch a broader range of the community
than any other sector. Furthermore, because congregations can be an important presence
throughout an individual's life span, their influence over time can be powerful.
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Church Youth "At Risk"
Unfortunately, many congregations don't take advantage of their potential in addressing
young people's critical needs. In another Search Institute study Effective Christian Education:
A National Study of Protestant Congregations, 3,000 adolescents were asked to name the number
of hours in their lifetime they had spent doing or learning specific things at their church.
Most report spending very little time addressing a variety of issues important to them. For
example, 43 percent of students report two or fewer hours in their lifetime spent at church
discussing sex. And 36 percent report spending two or fewer hours learning about alcohol or
other drugs.
Furthermore, young people don't give high ratings when asked how well their churches help
them in several areas related to at-risk behaviors. Thus, while congregations could play
a significant role in encouraging positive values and support systems, their message may
never be conveyed-even to young people within the congregation, much less to the broader
community.
This missing message raises concern because young people bring to congregational life a
profile of at-risk behavior that is parallel to the one found among youth in general.
Though the levels are lower than for the overall youth population, church-going youth
report significant involvement in at-risk behaviors. Overall, the Effective Christian
Education study found that 66 percent of church-going 7th and 8th graders, 70 percent of
9th and 10th graders, and 80 percent of 11th and 12th graders report one or more of 10
different at-risk behaviors.
The levels of problems are most pronounced among church-going 11th and 12th graders, who
report the following:
- More than one-third of males and more than one-fourth of females report binge drinking
(5 or more drinks in a row, once or more in the past two weeks).
- More than one-fourth of males report driving after drinking.
- Forty-four percent of females and 42 percent of males report sexual intercourse at least
twice. Nearly one-fourth of these sexually active young people don't use contraceptives.
Faith institutions must find people and other resources that address, from a values context,
issues youth face, such as alcohol and other drug misuse, sexuality, teen pregnancy, AIDS,
depression, anti-social behavior and gangs, school absenteeism, vehicle safety, and peer influence.
These efforts can be central to the congregation's mission. Faith-which congregations seek to
promote-must inform daily life and give it new dimension if it is to grow and deepen. Indeed,
young people's long term involvement in and loyalty toward faith institutions may be dependent
on whether their congregations address "real life" issues. If not, young people may see faith
institutions, finally, as irrelevant-a pattern and a memory that is no longer significant.
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Making A Difference
The challenge is for congregations to take more seriously their role in positive youth development,
and for communities to include faith institutions in cooperative and collaborative efforts. Both are
important.
- What congregations can do-Congregations have clear opportunities to address specific at-risk
concerns among children and youth. These might include topical religious education classes
on sexuality, alcohol and other drug use, violence, and other issues. These educational
opportunities should move beyond discussions of factual information, though many young
people may not know the facts. Rather, they should help young people connect the issues
to their faith, their values, and their experiences. Only then will the learning become
internalized.
In addition to addressing the specific at-risk issues, congregations need to focus attention
on protective factors-factors that undergird young people as they make choices. Bonnie
Benard (see Selected Resources) suggests three protective factors that need to be in place
in young people's lives. As applied to faith institutions, they are:
- Caring and support from persons or a person in the congregation, be it a Sunday school
teacher, youth group leader, peer, friend, relative, or mentor. Nurturing these caring and
supportive relationships must be central to youth programs. Peer ministry programs and sharing
groups are becoming more common in churches, and they can help fulfill this function.
Congregation-based mentoring and intergenerational classes also offer promising possibilities.
- High expectations on the part of the congregation for its youth. Just as schools that
uphold expectations of their students tend to motivate students to learn, congregations
that expect their youth to learn will motivate and challenge them to grow and mature.
Youth programs challenge young people by appropriately addressing important issues such
as sexuality, values, alcohol and other drugs, and personal responsibility, thus stretching
them toward more responsible choices.
- Opportunities for youth to be contributing members of their congregation. Youth need to
be able to participate in meaningful, valued activities and roles- those involving problem-solving,
decision-making, planning, goal-setting, and helping others. These opportunities enhance young
people's sense of responsibility and purpose, which can, in turn, help reduce negative behaviors.
Finally, congregations can become in-volved in community networking, cooperation, and even
collaboration to address the needs of young people. Promoting community-wide efforts to church
members can help to build a broad constituency in the community to address the issues. Offering
church space (which might otherwise remain unused) to community-wide efforts could be another option.
The point is to discover appropriate ways that congregations can contribute to efforts in the larger
community.
- What community leaders can doŅIn recent years, as prevention has come to the forefront and
is being redefined, we have learned that one sector of the community alone can't provide all the
factors necessary to reduce youth problem behaviors. Yet, far too many of the existing models for
prevention ignore the potential contribution of religious institutions.
Community leaders and service-sector professionals need to become intentional in including religious
leaders in planning groups and task forces. And they need to integrate the churches' strengths into
community efforts. Such cooperative and-even one step further-collaborative efforts across all sectors
of communities can help to ensure the best possible future for our youth.
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Church-Community Partnership At Work
The annual Chemical Health Week forum wasn't having the impact the Wayzata/Plymouth Area Chemical
Health Commission (Minnesota) wanted. "We felt it just wasn't reaching the community, " Susan Fetterer,
commission chair, explains in an article in Impact, the newsletter of the Minnesota Prevention Resource
Center (Winter 1991-1992).
So the commission turned to the religious community. Churches took full responsibility for the week-with
the commission providing resources and facilitator training for clergy and church members. Fifteen
churches ex-pressed immediate interest, and many have completed the training. Each church then
develops and implements a program that fits its own needs.
Both the churches and the prevention advocates benefit from the partnership. The prevention
message gets out to a broader base of people, and churches receive training and resources to
help them address the important issue of alcohol and other drug use prevention.
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Selected Resources
Alcohol and Other Drugs: A Planning Guide for Congregations (Anoka, MN: Minnesota Prevention
Resource Center, 1991).
Bonnie Benard, Fostering Resiliency in Kids: Protective Factors in the Family, School, and
Community (Portland, OR: Northwest Regional Educational Labor-atory, 1991).
Peter L. Benson and Carolyn H. Eklin, Effective Christian Education: A National Study of
Protestant Congregations (Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute, 1990).
Peter L. Benson, The Troubled Journey: A Portrait of 6th-12th Grade Youth (Minneapolis, MN:
Lutheran Brotherhood, 1990).
Carl S. Dudley, Basic Steps Toward Community Ministry: Guidelines and Models in Action
(Washington, DC: Alban Institute, 1991).
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