Growing Disciples in Community

Abstract

This article explores the correlation between adolescents' spiritual growth and discipleship and the attitudes and beliefs of family, friends, and the local congregation in their role of equipping/discipling these youth. The data is drawn from a recent secondary data analysis of the Valuegenesis ² study conducted in the year 2000 among junior high and high school students attending Seventh-day Adventist schools in North America. ¹ The analysis indicates that the discipling/equipping attitudes and behaviors of family, friends, Christian teachers, and the local congregation are significant in explaining adolescents' responses to indicators of personal discipleship.

1

The Valuegenesis² study, a follow-up to the original Valuegenesis study (Dudley & Gilles - pie, 1992), was sponsored by the Hancock Center for Youth and Family Ministry at La Sierra University, Riverside, California, and the North American Division Office of Education (John Hancock Center for Youth and Family Ministry, 2002). The study involved 6th to 12th grade students who were enrolled in schools affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America. The original survey was designed to measure faith maturity, the name given for the balance between two scales blending a vertical dimension (attempting to measure a rich, close relationship with God) and a horizontal dimension (attempting to measure care and compassion for others). The large amount of data gathered in the 396-item questionnaire provided a sufficient number of items with which to create scales that would test the discipleship model presented in this study.