To ask youth workers, educators, and parents:
1. What does testimony mean to you?
2. Look at table 7.1, “Practices Promoting Religious Articulacy in American Teenagers.” Which practice has helped you form a religious vocabulary? What about for the young people you work with? Why? (page 136)
3. People talk about faith differently. Is there anyone in your life who talks about faith in a way that you admire? Why? Have you ever heard somebody talk about faith in a way that embarrassed you? What made you uncomfortable?
4. Do you have difficulty talking about Jesus? Why? Does it matter if young people omit Jesus from their faith vocabularies? (page 139-140)
5. Remember the congregation that started asking for testimony in their worship services, and no one volunteered? The situation changed dramatically when the pastor changed the term in the bulletin from “testimony” to “God-sightings.” What makes one less intimidating than the other? (page 147)
6. Dean quotes Leif Enger’s description of telling others about God’s faithfulness:
“Is there a single person on whom I can press belief?
No sir.
All I can do is say, Here’s how it went. Here’s what I saw.
I’ve been there and am going back.
Make of it what you will.”
What do you make of this “take it or leave it” attitude towards testimony? Where is the authority located–in the God-encounter or on the credentials of the person giving witness? Does it take some of the pressure away when we leave the effect of our testimony up to God? (page147-148)
7. What makes religious camps and conferences so significant for so many young people’s faith journeys? How did people talk about God in those camp and conference settings that was different from the way your family or congregation talked about God? Which one influenced you most? (page 155)
8. What is your community doing to prepare teenagers to talk about, and encourage them to share, the places their story has collided with God’s story in Jesus Christ? (page 156)
To ask teenagers:
1. What does the word testimony mean to you? Have you ever heard a testimony to God’s faithfulness–or given one? What was it like?
2. People talk about faith differently. Is there anyone in your life who talks about faith in a way that you admire? Why? Have you ever heard somebody talk about faith in a way that embarrassed you? What made you uncomfortable?
3. The NSYR found that youth with experience in certain practices were more articulate about faith (p. 136). Which of these practices has helped you put your faith into words, and why?
- family conversations
- singing in a church choir
- expressing faith at school
- speaking publicly about faith at a religious service.
4. What’s the difference between God-talk and Jesus-talk? Which one is riskier? Why? Do you think not talking about Jesus is wrong for Christian teenagers?
5. Have you ever been to a church camp or conference? How did people talk about God there that was different from the way you talk about God most of the time? Why was it different? Did it feel safer—or more threatening–to talk about the meaning of Jesus’ life for your own life when you were away from home? When you returned, was it easier or harder to talk about Jesus in your family and church?