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FIRST ON FOX: A new study suggests a person’s connection to faith may start at home, not at church. Communio, a nonprofit that uses data-driven ministry and practical tools to strengthen families, partnered with Harvard to study how childhood faith experiences shape Christians later in life.
In 2024, the Pew Research Center reported that 28% of U.S. adults were religiously unaffiliated. Communio sought to identify the key factors behind generational faith and how parents can pass their faith to their children. Communio’s survey found that simply talking about faith in childhood can shape how children live it out as adults.
“Past research has shown that the growth in religious non-affiliation is the result of generational succession — meaning each younger generation is, on average, less religious than the last. On a fundamental level, the so-called rise of the ‘nones’ is the result of older generations being less effective at sharing the Gospel with younger ones,” JP De Gance, founder and president of Communio, and author of the “Pastor’s Guide” said.
A survey of more than 16,000 churchgoing adults found regular childhood conversations about faith to be one of the strongest predictors of practicing faith in adulthood. Churchgoers who had regular conversations about faith in childhood reported higher forgiveness towards those who hurt them and a greater sense of belonging to their church community, according to the survey.
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Additionally, Communio and Harvard found that churchgoers who recalled having at least weekly talks with their parents about faith had more than 2.5 times higher odds of having regular conversations about faith with their own children. The odds rose for those who recalled having daily conversations, giving them more than 7.5 times higher odds of having those same talks with their own children, according to the report.
However, despite acknowledging the impact of conversations about faith on their lives, less than half (48%) of churchgoers who answered the survey question reported having at least weekly talks with their own children.
“The good news here is any Christian parent not already having these conversations with their kids can take a step today to make this a regular part of their routine,” De Gance said.
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Beyond the importance of conversations with parents, the study found that fathers, in particular, have an important role to play in their children’s faith.
Communio’s latest working paper found that “churchgoing adults were more likely to attend church regularly in adulthood if they reported attending church with their own dad weekly or more frequently in childhood at age 12.” In addition to more regular church attendance, the study found a good or very good relationship with one’s father to be linked to higher forgiveness and a greater sense of belonging to their church community.
In a surprising twist, Communio found that a better relationship with one’s father was associated with a lower likelihood of having open conversations about faith with one’s own children.
“While the data in this working paper are not able to address the question of why this might be the case, this finding provides a pastoral teaching opportunity. Many good things can come from dads going to church and having a positive relationship with their children, but these are not necessarily ‘silver bullets,” the Pastor’s Guide says.
The guide states that open conversations about faith “might be an important piece of the puzzle” when it comes to generational faith.
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When it comes to implementing faith-filled conversations, the Pastor’s Guide suggests parents “sanctify” everyday moments, such as running errands or eating dinner by having “short and open-ended conversations about faith” in those instances. This can include simply asking your child what he or she is grateful to God for that day. Some examples of questions include, “How did you see God show up in your life this week?” and “What should we pray for today?”
The guide also stresses that “parents don’t need to be theologians or biblical scholars to have these conversations.” Communio found that simply having open conversations encouraging faith can be the answer.
