May 2011 Dr. Fergus Macdonald, Director. fergusmacdonald@blueyonder.co.uk Dr. Philip Collins, Coordinator. phcollins@taylor.edu SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES The Christian Identity and Scripture Engagement Study Dr. Steven Bird, Principle Investigator. stbird@taylor.edu Analysis and Reporting: Emily Fox, Steven Rockey, Rachel Stephens. In short, students participate more in corporate and study-centered Christian activities, and less in evangelism and certain ascetic Christian activities. They most often pray, engage in fellowship with Christians, and worship God, and least often practice fasting. The survey questions on spiritual disciplines had respondents indicate how frequently they practiced disciplines (See Figure 3.1). The answer options were daily, a few times per week, weekly, a few times per month, monthly, a few times per year, yearly, less than yearly, and never. Students practice some spiritual disciplines much more often than others, especially praying (73% answered daily, and only 2% answered monthly or less) and engaging in fellowship with Christians (65% answered daily, and 2% answered monthly or less). Other activities that Taylor students practice the most frequently are worshipping God, serving the people around themselves, reading the Bible, having times of solitude, and attending worship services (which actually only had 3% of the students respond daily, but of them responded a few times per week and another 29% said weekly). Most questions about the spiritual disciplines had results somewhere in the middle. For example, only 9% of students said that they studied Christian materials other than the Bible daily, % responded a few times per week, 44% responded weekly or a few times per month, and 22% responded monthly or less. Other questions where students mostly responded in the middle categories were how frequently they: have times of solitude, intentionally practice submission, act in specific ways around non-believers so that they might come closer to Christ, and make personal sacrifices for their faith. Students answered the rest of the questions with answers in the lower-middle frequencies (except for fasting, which 58% of students responded that they did yearly or less). These variables included practicing important times of silence, talking to non-believers in ways that they think will help them come closer to Christ, serving those in need, practicing confession to others, going out of their way to be in contact with non-believers (83% of respondents Data Collection Methods In January of 2011, all 1795 students at a Christian University in the Midwest of the USA, were invited to complete a half-hour on-line survey that asked about their spiritual background, spiritual disciplines, scripture engagement, love of and relation to God, love of others, and their Christian identity. 592 students participated (a 33 percent response rate). Responses to the survey were disproportionately female so statistical weighting for gender was used in all analyses. answered weekly or less), and meeting with a spiritual small group ( answered weekly-a few times per year). 1 P a g e
Figure 3.1: Spiritual Disciplines I pray 2.15.5.2 74.1 I engage in fellowship with Christians 2.2 8.5 21.3 65.8 I worship God 2.8 8 35.3 51 I serve the people around me 8.5 34 39.1 I read the Bible.7.7 35.8 31.4 I attend worship services 3.7 28.9 60.9 2.8 I have times of solitude.4.6 22.8 21.2 I study other Christian materials.4 21.1.3 9.5 I intentionally practice submission 15.9 17.5 17.5 15 I act in specific ways around non-believers so they might come closer to Christ 15.2.6.2 I make personal sacrifices for my faith 17.3 20.1 15.9.7 I practice important times of silence.7 15.7 8.6 I talk to non-believers in ways that I think will help them come closer to Christ 20.2 11.8.2 10.4 I serve those in need.7.6 15.6 5.8 I practice confession to others 24.8 17.7.9 4.7 I go out of my way to be in contact with non-believers.4 9.7 6.2 I meet with a spiritual small group 11.8 56.3 7.6 1 I fast 35.6 22.4 1 2 3 4 5 Never Less than yearly Yearly Few times per year Monthly Few times per month Weekly Few times per week Daily 2 P a g e
Spiritual Disciplines by Gender Comparing the frequency of practicing spiritual disciplines with gender produced mixed results with no clear pattern. In fact, only two of 27 the disciplines proved to have a significant relationship with gender. reading it more frequently than men 4 did with 35% reading the Bible every 3 day, as opposed to men s 27%. When asked how frequently they read the Bible, women reported 5 32 Although 6% more men than women reported reading the Bible weekly, a combined 84% of women reported reading it weekly or more, and a combined 75% of men reported reading it weekly or more. The relationship is moderate with V = 2 1 Men 0.6 and is statistically significant at the 0.01 level (See Figure 3.2). Figure 3.2: How frequently I read the Bible by gender Women However, in the only other statistically significant comparison, How frequently I make personal sacrifices for my faith, men reported higher frequencies than women did. % of men, compared with % of women, reported making personal sacrifices daily. A Figure 3.3: How frequently I make personal sacrifices for my faith by gender combined 57% of men reported doing this weekly or more, compared with a combined 46% of women. Women, however, were much more likely to report that they make personal sacrifices for their faith a few times per 5 month than men were, with % 4 11 compared to men s 11%. The 3 relationship is moderate with V = 9 0.2 and is statistically significant 2 at the 0.05 level (See Figure 3.3). 1 V = 0.2 Male Female p < 0.05 35 39 10 V = 0.6 p < 0.01 There seems to be little or no clear pattern between spiritual disciplines and gender. 3 P a g e
Spiritual Disciplines by class Class seemed to matter somewhat more than sex when comparing respondents participation in the spiritual disciplines. Generally, freshmen and sophomores reported practicing spiritual disciplines more often, to varying degrees, than Figure 3.4: How frequently I attend worship services by class 5 4 3 2 1 71 69 less than yearly few times per year monthly few times per month weekly few times per week daily 60 33 juniors and seniors did. This trend showed clearly in the questions regarding worship. As illustrated in figure 3.4, when asked how frequently they attend worship services, a combined 77% of freshmen said they attended services a few times a week or more, followed by a combined 72% of sophomores, a combined 63% of juniors, and a combined 53% of seniors. However, seniors only attend worship services slightly less frequently, and over 4 reported attending worship services either weekly or a few times a month. The relationship is moderate with d = -0.150, and is statistically significant at the 0.001 level. We also see a similar trend in the question How frequently I worship God, (although in this one the sophomores had the highest frequencies). 52 37 d = -0.150 p < 0.001 Freshmen also reported meeting with a spiritual small group more frequently than any other class, with a combined 77% meeting weekly or more, compared with seniors, who had a combined 57% meeting weekly or more, and sophomores and juniors continued the trend of frequency. This relationship is weak with d = -0.6, and is statistically significant at the 0.001 level. 5 4 3 2 1 Figure 3.5: How frequently I meet with a spiritual small group by class 4 7 9 67 55 9 9 7 10 5 8 6 7 5 10 55 53 d = -0.6 p< 0.001 4 P a g e
Figure 3.6: How frequently I talk to non-believers in ways that I think will help them come closer to Christ by class 5 4 3 2 1 10 20 21 7 11 10 5 7 9 6 20 17 This trend continued in some ways for questions regarding respondents behavior towards non-believers, or evangelism. However, frequencies do not steadily change between classes, as shown in the question How frequently I talk to non-believers in ways that I think will help them come closer to Christ, but instead have fairly similar results between the freshmen, sophomores, and drop off a little with juniors but considerably more with the seniors. Although there is some variety between classes with each option, a combined of freshmen answered a few times a month or more, a combined 65% of sophomores answered the same, fewer juniors at a combined 53% answered the same, but only a combined 47% of seniors answered a few times a month or more. This relationship is weak with d=-0.108, and is statistically significant at the 0.01 level. There were similar patterns for most of the questions concerning respondents behavior towards non- Christians, such as How frequently I go out of my way to be in contact with non-believers, and How frequently I act in specific ways around non-believers so that they might come closer to Christ. Generally, either freshmen or sophomores were more likely to report that they engage in the spiritual disciplines most frequently, followed by juniors, and always followed last by seniors. 21 10 d=-0.108 p<0.01 5 P a g e