photo by flickr user Brit

A new research study from the Barna Group, a faith and culture research organization, explores the changing religious environment of teenagers.

According to the article, "teenagers are among the most religiously active Americans, with nearly six out of every 10 teens engaged in some type of group spiritual activity per week." However, the study finds, while most teenagers remain spiritually active, six of nine religious activities for teens are declining.

Although teen church attendance and youth group involvement have not changed much in recent years, other activities, according to the Barna study, are declining. These activities include small group attendance, prayer, Sunday school participation, donations to churches, reading sacred texts other than the Bible, and evangelism by Christian teens.

Teen behavior has also shifted for different denominations. Barna states that Catholic teenagers are more likely to show diminished religious activity, while 13- to 17-year-old Protestants are showing signs of increased religious activity, particularly among non-mainline, or evangelical, denominations.

David Kinnaman, president of Barna Group and director of the research, surmised, "perhaps technology such as social networking is reconfiguring teens’ needs for relationships and continual connectivity, diminishing the role of certain spiritual forms of engagement in their lives. Talking to God may be losing out to Facebook.”

Charts and details of the research are available at the Barna Group website.