Assessing Christian Discipleship in Catholic Youth Ministry

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the intermediate outcomes of a youth ministry curriculum seeking to foster Christian discipleship. The study developed and tested a preliminary Christian Discipleship Scale seeking to operationally define Christian discipleship for assessment purposes. Telephone surveys were conducted with a representative sample (n=76) of young adult Catholics (population=113) who participated in an intensive university/seminary sponsored youth ministry program between 2000 and 2004 as high school youth. Results indicate the curriculum of theological study, justice education, prayer, and vocational discernment was influential in fostering the Christian discipleship practices of theological education, volunteer service, and prayer in these young adults. Further study is warranted on the Christian Discipleship Scale as a tool for assessing Christian discipleship formation in adolescent religious education curricula as results showed it correlated with five variables including frequencies of Mass attendance, frequency of prayer, frequency of reading scripture, involvement in religious groups, and leadership in religious groups.