Youth workers in the United States are divided on their commitment to and comfort with nurturing young people’s spiritual development, according to an exploratory study by the National Collaboration for Youth and Search Institute titled Is There Common Ground? An Exploratory Study of the Interests and Needs of Community-Based and Faith-Based Youth Workers.
The online survey of 1,300 youth workers found that only 14% of community-based youth workers said this was “essential” to their work, compared to 77% of faith-based youth workers (Figure 1). Furthermore, one in four community-based youth workers said nurturing spiritual development is “not important,” a sentiment shared by virtually none of the faith-based youth workers surveyed.
Figure 1, U.S. Youth Workers’ Perspectives on the Priority of Spiritual Development.
This gap between these groups of youth workers was much greater around spiritual development than any other competency. Indeed, youth workers in different settings generally have shared commitments the core competencies. For example, at least seven out of 10 youth workers in both settings agreed that it was “essential” for youth workers to know how to develop positive relationships with you, serve as role models, and involve and empower youth.
Though community-based youth workers do not generally place a high emphasis on spiritual development, there’s evidence that many see the need. Focus groups and dialogues with key leaders in youth development suggest a desire (mixed with apprehension) among a sizeable minority of community-based youth workers to be better equipped to address spiritual development thoughtfully and intentionally. It is notable, for example, that 29% of community-based youth workers surveyed said they were “very interested” in training and professional development in this area (Figure 2).
Figure 2, Interested in Growth Opportunities Related to Nurturing Spiritual Development: Levels of interest in training, resources, and/or educational opportunities for “helping young people develop spiritually.
This finding, albeit from a convenience sample of youth workers, offers important insights into the challenges of facilitating wider study and dialogue about young people’s spiritual development and its place in human development. Responses from focus groups and leader dialogue that were part of the project suggest that a major part of the challenge is to define spiritual development in a way that both leaves room for religious leaders to see themselves in it while also framing the understanding of this domain of life as not just involving religious doctrines, themes, stories, and institutions.
