So do service experiences and other standalone experiences when it comes to influencing the faith of young Catholics. That’s one of the conclusions made in a recent survey entitled Growing Catholics: Factors Influencing the Faith Development of Religiously-Active Youth.

More than 2,000 young Catholics attending the 2011 National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) responded to the question, “What has been a really strong influence on your Catholic faith?”  They were asked to weigh the influence of 30 different people and experiences. Their responses revealed that parents, religious upbringing as a child, and the prayer life of the Church significantly influenced their faith development.

And youth conferences, retreats, service, and guest speakers seemed to have as much, and in some cases, even more influence on their Catholic faith.

The youth who participated in this survey were active Catholics with a strong history of practicing the faith, religious education, and religious parents. However, even those teens who reported only recently becoming interested in their Catholic faith pointed to the strong influence of the same standalone events.

Both genders pointed to the very same influencers yet, 24 out of 30 times, a higher percentage of females said those items were a great influence, while a greater percentage of males said those items had some influence. In fact, the difference of influence in 21 of the 30 items was statistically significant.

For example, the percentage of female youth reporting that Catholic teachings and beliefs had a great influence on their faith was 57 percent. Among males, it was 45 percent. This represents a significantly greater influence on females.

Service experiences are a very strong influence on faith. The majority of both sexes said that it was a great influence. However, the percentage that reported a great influence was much higher in females (68 percent) than males (53 percent) and statistically significant. Likewise for retreats: 68 percent of females said this was a great influence compared to 57 percent of males.

Both said that times of joy and success were a great influence on their faith, but the percentage was noticeably higher for females (56 percent) than males (45 percent) and statistically significant. There was a distinct gender difference regarding the influence of difficult times and struggle. Over half of the females said this was of great influence (53 percent) compared to just over one-third of the males. In fact, 30 percent of males said it had little or no influence.

Both genders reported that being a regular member of the parish had a great influence on their faith, but once again the percentage was higher in females (51 percent) than males (41 percent). The same is true regarding the influence of helping out on a retreat or religion program, attending youth conferences, and talks by guest speakers. The percentage of females reporting these experiences to be a great influence was always higher than for males.

79 percent of the young people in the survey were Caucasian. Yet ethnic differences showed a pattern similar to the gender differences. Compared to all other ethnic groups, Hispanics reported being greatly influenced by 14 of the 30 items. And while an average of 80 percent across ethnicities reported a youth minister having great or some influence on their faith, the percentages of Hispanic and African-American youth (66 percent and 60 percent, respectively) that reported great influence by a youth minister turns out to be statistically significant, when compared to Caucasian youth (51 percent).

The percentage of youth saying that a mother or stepmother had great influence was highest among Hispanic youth (75 percent), compared to 67 percent among Caucasian, multi-ethnic, and African- American youth combined. (Note: 85 percent of the 20 Asian-American youth who responded to this question reported great influence). The percentage of youth reporting that a religion teacher had a great influence on them was highest among Hispanic youth (45 percent), as was the percentage reporting being greatly influenced by the Pope (55 percent).

But researchers say the key take away from this survey lies in the power that standalone events seem to have on the faith of Catholic young people. Here’s what the report had to say:

           The formative nature of specific experiences should not be underestimated.
           While this and other studies have documented the influence of family life
           and a religious upbringing, the 2,000 youth who participated in this survey
           told us that specific experiences outside the family also have a great influence
           on their faith. Retreats, service experiences, youth conferences, and guest
          speakers are among the strongest influencers.  

And:

         With all that is being written and discussed about evangelization and
         faith formation, the story told by these young people suggests that even
        the small step of participation in a one-time event holds promise.

(The full report can be found on the National Federation of Catholic Youth Ministry website.)