Initial Findings
External Challenges to “Power in Relationship”principle
Youth identified these larger social forces as impeding the building of relationships between and among congregation-based youth from very different neighborhood, class, and racial backgrounds.
- Ecological Shifts in Neighborhood (e.g. suburban “bubbles” vs. troubled city neighborhoods)
- Class and Economic Disparities
- Racial Difference, Racial Polarization
Internal Challenges to “Faith in Action”
Youth identified these obstacles to using congregation-based faith as a mobilizing ingredient of their social action:
- Transitions in Church Leadership
- Aging Congregations and generational differences (around interpretations of faith and social action)
- The resulting marginalization of youth voices
- Ambivalence around Christian faith and belief (less so in African American youth).
- Hope for Local and Global Peace – “Eye For an Eye Makes the Whole World Blind”
