Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church

265 Pages·2010·2.28 MB·English

by  Kenda Creasy Dean

ALMOST CHRISTIAN
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A L M O S T C H R I S T I A N
What the Faith of Our Teenagers Is Telling
the American Church
KENDA CREASY DEAN

2010
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dean, Kenda Creasy, 1959–
Almost Christian: what the faith of our teenagers is telling
the American church /Kenda Creasy Dean.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-531484-7
1. Teenagers—Religious life—United States. I. Title.
BV4531.3.D43 2010
277.3 ′ 0830835—dc22
2009051989
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
for two American young people,
Brendan and Shannon:
Keep the faith.
An almost Christian . . . [chiefl y] is one that . . . is fond of the form,
but never experiences the power of godliness in his heart.
—George Whitefi eld, “The Almost Christian” (1739)
The Church is full of almost Christians who have not gone
all the way with Christ.
—John Wesley, “The Almost Christian” (1741)
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
PART I Worshipping at the Church of Benign Whatever-ism
1. Becoming Christian-ish 3
2. The Triumph of the “Cult of Nice” 25
Part II Claiming a Peculiar God-Story
3. Mormon Envy: Sociological Tools for Consequential Faith 45
4. Generative Faith: Faith That Bears Fruit 61
5. Missional Imaginations: We Are Not Here for Ourselves 85
Part III Cultivating Consequential Faith
6. Parents Matter Most: The Art of Translation 109
7. Going Viral for Jesus: The Art of Testimony 131
8. Hanging Loose: The Art of Detachment 157
9. Make No Small Plans: A Case for Hope 185
Appendix A 199
Appendix B 201
Appendix C 207
Appendix D 211
Appendix E 215
Notes 217
Index 249
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Acknowledgments
A s a member of the research team for the fi rst wave of the National Study of
Youth and Religion, which focused on the religious lives of American thirteen-
to seventeen-year-olds, my job was to wrestle to the ground some of the fi nd-
ings relevant for Christian churches and pin down some hope for ministry with
young people. Like Jacob struggling with the angel at Jabbok (Gen. 32:22–32),
this wrestling match left me limping but blessed. I am especially grateful to
Christian Smith and Melinda Denton for sowing the seeds of this project. Chris
showed me more about how to run a research project, and how to work with
doctoral students, than all my years of graduate school and teaching combined.
In the process, he became a glad friend and co-conspirator in trying to make
things right in the world.
T his book was fi nished thanks to the generosity of others. Cynthia Read and
Joellyn Ausanka at Oxford University Press patiently waited out the manuscript’s
multiple personalities. I was honored by scores of teenagers who let me to eaves-
drop on their lives; our conversations challenged and changed me, and to the
person they seemed glad for the conversation. I am deeply indebted to David C.
Dollahite, professor of Family Life, Brigham Young University, and to graduate
students Emily Layton, Carma Martino, Laura Nelson, and Toshi Shichida, who
generously read an early draft of this manuscript and provided gracious critiques,
critical insight, and additional resources on young people, families, and the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as I ventured into the unknown terri-
tory of Mormon theology and practice. Friends and colleagues—Christian
Andrews, Blair Bertrand, Marti Reed Hazelrigg, Andrew Root, Matthew Schultz,
and David White, especially—served as beloved and honest critics, chastening
each incarnation of the manuscript with much needed straight talk. My col-
leagues in Princeton Seminary’s Tennent School of Christian Education and
Institute for Youth Ministry—Leslie Dobbs-Allsopp, Margo Dudak, Pat Heran,
Bo Karen Lee, Gordon Mikoski, Rick Osmer, Dayle Rounds, Amy Vaughn, and
my dean, Darrell Guder—offered daily doses of humor and intellectual traction.
Without them, I would have long ago quit and gone to the beach.