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Data show that while a majority of young adults have delayed having children, there is a small percentage who have chosen to begin a family. Who exactly are the 35 percent of young adults who, unlike the majority of their peers, have children? Barna wanted to know more about this segment—who represent a growing minority of their generation, a counter to many stereotypes about young adults’ delayed adolescence and a fresh area of research. Below is a Q&A excerpt from The Connected Generation report featuring Dorit Reichstein Hejslet, Communications for Open Doors Denmark and mother to three children, and Konstantin Kruse, a pastor living in Germany and father to two children.

Barna: Do you think the approach of parents in your age group will be different from that of previous generations?

Dorit: We are scrutinized every day in the media about what we should and should not do in order not to screw up our kids. We are told that we as parents are solely responsible for our children’s mental and physical well-being, and we have to be almost perfect. There is a lot of shaming toward parents today. I have a hard time relaxing. I am constantly focused on doing my very best and that sometimes makes me a worried, anxious parent.

Barna: Do you feel different from non-parents in your generation?

Konstantin: Many of my closest friends are also in my generation and have kids. I think differences between parents and non-parents in my generation are the differences in the amount of responsibility. When you have kids you spend your time, energy and money differently. Parents are also typically not as flexible with the schedule as perhaps those without kids.

Barna: How has the responsibility of being a parent affected your faith practice?

Konstantin: The hope is that they see what a natural and authentic relationship with Jesus looks like—whether it is serving the community, leading in church or how I love my family. I understand that it starts with me being an example for my family so that they can see what it looks like to serve the Lord—and through this example they will then hopefully also know and serve him.

Dorit: It is so much harder to focus on singing, praying or listening to the sermon with kids at church. To be touched by the Word and the Spirit is hard because I am constantly interrupted. I have to give a word of encouragement to a fellow church member with my baby on my hip. It might not feel very holy or like it used to, but it is my kind of discipline and spiritual devotion, and I think God knows how devoted it really is.

Barna: As you think about the next 10 years, what would you like to see happen in your life?

Dorit: We are renovating an old house. It’s our dream to see this turn into a home and a base for us and our children. I want to bless others through our home. I want to settle in the town where we moved and plant deep roots, show love to this city, serve my neighborhood by showing them Jesus and his love.

Konstantin: In the next 10 years, I would like to support my wife in her calling and would love to see my kids loving Jesus and see the Church thriving. Personally, I would love to become a better leader and do my best to help others find their own purpose and calling in ministry.

Photo by J Carter on Pexels

The post Meet the Millennial Parents appeared first on Barna Group.

Data show that while a majority of young adults have delayed having children, there is a small percentage who have chosen to begin a family. Who exactly are the 35 percent of young adults who, unlike the majority of their peers, have children? Barna wanted to know more about this segment—who represent a growing minority of their generation, a counter to many stereotypes about young adults’ delayed adolescence and a fresh area of research. Below is a Q&A excerpt from The Connected Generation report featuring Dorit Reichstein Hejslet, Communications for Open Doors Denmark and mother to three children, and Konstantin Kruse, a pastor living in Germany and father to two children.

Barna: Do you think the approach of parents in your age group will be different from that of previous generations?

Dorit: We are scrutinized every day in the media about what we should and should not do in order not to screw up our kids. We are told that we as parents are solely responsible for our children’s mental and physical well-being, and we have to be almost perfect. There is a lot of shaming toward parents today. I have a hard time relaxing. I am constantly focused on doing my very best and that sometimes makes me a worried, anxious parent.

Barna: Do you feel different from non-parents in your generation?

Konstantin: Many of my closest friends are also in my generation and have kids. I think differences between parents and non-parents in my generation are the differences in the amount of responsibility. When you have kids you spend your time, energy and money differently. Parents are also typically not as flexible with the schedule as perhaps those without kids.

Barna: How has the responsibility of being a parent affected your faith practice?

Konstantin: The hope is that they see what a natural and authentic relationship with Jesus looks like—whether it is serving the community, leading in church or how I love my family. I understand that it starts with me being an example for my family so that they can see what it looks like to serve the Lord—and through this example they will then hopefully also know and serve him.

Dorit: It is so much harder to focus on singing, praying or listening to the sermon with kids at church. To be touched by the Word and the Spirit is hard because I am constantly interrupted. I have to give a word of encouragement to a fellow church member with my baby on my hip. It might not feel very holy or like it used to, but it is my kind of discipline and spiritual devotion, and I think God knows how devoted it really is.

Barna: As you think about the next 10 years, what would you like to see happen in your life?

Dorit: We are renovating an old house. It’s our dream to see this turn into a home and a base for us and our children. I want to bless others through our home. I want to settle in the town where we moved and plant deep roots, show love to this city, serve my neighborhood by showing them Jesus and his love.

Konstantin: In the next 10 years, I would like to support my wife in her calling and would love to see my kids loving Jesus and see the Church thriving. Personally, I would love to become a better leader and do my best to help others find their own purpose and calling in ministry.

Photo by J Carter on Pexels

The post Meet the Millennial Parents appeared first on Barna Group.

While survey research in the United States is a year-round undertaking, the public’s focus on polling is never more intense than during the run-up to a presidential election.

The post A Field Guide to Polling: Election 2020 Edition appeared first on Pew Research Center.

By Aaron Earls

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Like most U.S. pastors, Robby Gallaty knows someone who has been affected by opioid abuse. But unlike most pastors, Gallaty has personally suffered through addiction.

Twenty years ago this month, Gallaty endured a near-fatal car accident. When he left the hospital, the club-bouncer-turned-church-leader took with him several prescriptions for painkillers.

“My descent into full-scale drug abuse was amazingly rapid,” he writes in his new book, Recovered: How an Accident, Alcohol, and Addiction Led Me to God. “In November of 1999, before the accident, I was selling cars, training for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and thinking about business opportunities. By early the next year, I was looking for faster and better drug connections.”

After stealing $15,000 from his parents to feed his addiction, Gallaty found himself at his lowest point—kicked out of his parents’ home and told not to come back.

“It was the hardest three months of their lives, and they’ll tell you that,” he said. “But it was the best thing for me. I knew that I couldn’t fix myself.”

This led Gallaty, now pastor of Long Hollow Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tenn., to what he calls a “radical, Paul-like conversion” on November 12, 2002.

Most pastors don’t have the intimate knowledge of addiction Gallaty has, but most say they’ve seen it face to face through people connected to their church and even among members of their congregation.

Nashville-based LifeWay Research asked 1,000 Protestant pastors about their personal connections to the opioid epidemic and how their churches are looking to address the issue.

Two-thirds of pastors (66%) say a family member of someone in their congregation has been personally affected by opioid abuse.

More than half (55%) say they or someone in their congregation knows a local neighbor suffering through opioid abuse.

For half of pastors (52%), someone directly in their church is dealing with an opioid addiction.

Fewer than a quarter (23%) of pastors say they don’t know anyone personally affected by it.

“The drug epidemic has infiltrated our churches and neighborhoods. It is not localized to a particular region or socio-economic class,” said Gallaty. “Addiction is no respecter of persons.”

Pastors of the smallest churches (fewer than 50 in attendance) are most likely to say they don’t know anyone connected to their congregation or community affected by opioid abuse (31%).

Pastors in the Northeast (11%) are least likely to say they don’t have any such personal connections.

“More than two-thirds of even the smallest churches have connections to people affected by opioid abuse,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research. “Opioid addiction can impact people who aren’t a significant risk for other types of drugs.”

Church response

Despite most pastors having a personal experience with someone suffering from opioid abuse, Gallaty said many church leaders don’t know where to start in responding to the opioid epidemic.

“Some pastors are at a loss to understand the issues surrounding personal struggles and don’t have a plan of action to help those in need,” he said.

Unfortunately, Gallaty said some pastors are dismissive of “those drug heads” from a certain area of their town, but he says that attitude is wrong for two reasons.

Being a college graduate with a full-time job and having a good home with hard-working parents means Gallaty didn’t fit those stereotypes. “I never asked to be injured, nor did I intend to get addicted to pain medication,” said the Recovered author. “Still, it happened to me, like it has to so many others.”

Even more importantly, Gallaty said “‘those drug heads are sons and daughters of people in our congregations and communities. They are all made in the image of God and need to know that addiction, like any sin, can be broken through the healing power of the gospel.”

According to the LifeWay Research study, most churches are trying to do something.

Around 4 in 5 pastors (82%) say their church currently serves people with opioid addiction by offering spiritual support including prayer or discipleship.

Close to half (46%) say they offer physical support including food, shelter or clothing, while slightly fewer (40%) offer a 12-step program or other support groups for substance abuse.

Around 1 in 8 pastors (13%) admit their church currently isn’t doing any of those things for people with opioid addiction.

“When churches offer spiritual and physical help to those in their community, they will meet people with many needs that go beyond those offerings,” said McConnell. “Churches have a choice of whether they will address those more complex needs, connect the hurting with help elsewhere, or ignore the needs.”

Larger churches—those with more resources and more personal connections to the crisis—are most likely to say they offer both spiritual and practical help for those with an opioid addiction.

Gallaty said one simple way churches can address the problem is by “educating our people on the dangers of addiction by talking about it publicly and preaching sermons about the topic. Pastors shouldn’t shy away from it.”

As people with addictions come to the attention of the church, however, Gallaty said congregations and leaders must be ready. “When people come to our churches as hospitals for healing, pastors should have a game plan to help them,” he said.

“We can stick our heads in the sand and hope the issue dissolves, or we can recognize the need and take steps to come alongside those struggling.”

Aaron Earls is online editor of Facts & Trends and a writer for LifeWay Christian Resources.

Methodology:
The phone survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors was conducted Aug. 29 to Sept. 11, 2018. The calling list was a stratified random sample, drawn from a list of all Protestant churches. Quotas were used for church size.

Each interview was conducted with the senior pastor, minister or priest of the church called. Responses were weighted by region to more accurately reflect the population. The completed sample is 1,000 surveys. The sample provides 95% confidence that the sampling error does not exceed plus or minus 3.2%. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups.

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