Will our children have faith? An interesting question, and the title of an informative and insightful book by John Westerhoff, III. Although first published in 1976 and revised in 2000, the book is just as relevant as the first day it was printed. And you might wonder, is it important that our children have faith…is this aspect of our lives important to us, both individually and collectively? The Pew Forum on Religious and Public Life published a study in December 2009 entitled “How Religious is your State?” – the results varied, but the national averages showed that slightly more than half of those surveyed thought weekly worship attendance and daily prayer were important, while about 70% were certain of the existence of God. So, at least in some degree (and definitions vary widely, of course) faith in God still has significance in our society. This begs the question, if something is important, what are we doing about it? Westerhoff opens his book with the following words: “It is a truism that Christian faith and education are inevitable companions. Wherever living faith exists, there is a community endeavoring to know, understand, live, and witness to that faith.”[i] Again, what are we actually doing about the development of our faith; how are we “endeavoring to know, understand, live, and witness to that faith.” Certainly there are many wonderful programs alive and well throughout the country, but there are also many disturbing trends that appear to be going unnoticed.

Religion in the United States continues to become more and more a private affair. Contemporary understandings of “separation of church & state” continue to slide toward a more restrictive interpretation, recently highlighted by an article in the NY Times about the challenges of holding worship services in public schools – no proselytizing involved, mind you, simply holding a religious service. The challenging trends of government interpretation are accompanied by the church itself. (Here, I must admit that much of my thought is based on personal experience; those things I see from “my own kitchen window”) The Episcopal Diocese of CT, facing challenging financial matters that force difficult decisions, recently laid-off Diocesan staff members that support the faith development and ministry of young folks (very young to college aged). Throughout the diocese, very little money is spent on college chaplaincy, with very little in return. And disturbingly, just yesterday, the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago took similar actions and laid-off the Associate for Youth and Young Adult ministry. Challenging financial times certainly compel people to implement difficult decisions, but are we pruning back the health and growth of our youth? We are jeopardizing more than the faith of our children if others do not become involved in the development and nurture of a vibrant community that cares for everyone – truly a community diverse in all backgrounds, including age.

I started with a question from John Westerhoff’s book, so I will end with the words he writes to conclude his book: “Our children will have faith if we have faith and are faithful. Both we and our children will have Christian faith if we join with others in a worshiping, learning, witnessing Christian community of faith. To evolve this sort of community where persons strive to be Christian together is the challenge of Christian education in the years ahead.”[ii]We must individually and collectively come together in community to support and teach our children. We must make this undertaking a priority because the faith development of our children is the hope and strength of the church, the hope and strength of our communities of tomorrow. We must be witnesses to the mission and ministry of Christ, and you cannot be a witness unless you are actively endeavoring to be a witness to that faith.