Palos Verdes Teens and Religion

The Thursday, August 20, 2009 edition of the Palos Verdes Peninsula News presented a sample insight into the views of the local youth on religion. It would be prudent for St. Luke's and other peninsula religious establishments to ponder the ramifications of those views. Consider the results of the following survey.

Some elements of the survey raise questions about the poll itself. For example, are there really no Muslims or religious Jews on the peninsula? In question #1 I would have included a category for Agnostics. Nevertheless, there is certainly significant information here.

Associated with the survey was an article by a local teen author. Attending church when her father insisted, and taking confirmation classes, she still does not anticipate participation in formal religion. She is a firm believer in the ethics of the church, but can not accept its other dogmas. The survey shows that she is hardly unique.

What does this mean for the future of St. Luke's and other traditional faiths? What should our response be? I have some thoughts on the subject, but would like to hear what the faithful and leaders of St. Luke's have to say. It was surprising and disappointing to see such a muted response from the readers of the paper.