Transmitting Faith Through Community

I have long been familiar with Christian Smith’s research on the outsized role that non-parental adults play in the transmission of faith to our children. I've heard talks on it, read the literature, and even woven it into presentations I’ve given to families. Summarizing the data in a recent Church Life Journal article, Michael Rota and Stephen Bullivant conclude, "When children grow up with many supportive Catholic adults in their lives, that increases their likelihood of remaining Catholic, even holding all the other factors fixed. Grandparents, friends, parents, mentors, youth ministers and other non-parental adults can make a big difference."