From Disorientation To Reorientation: Introducing Theological Worlds To Enhance The Sense Of Spiritual Support Among Selected Students At Landmark Christian School

Abstract

Adolescence is often a time of disruption in teenager’s lives. For many Christian teenagers, this disruption affects their faith, creating a period of disorientation. Previously, these young people assumed the faith of their parents, but adolescence opens the door to rethink and reassess those commitments. Unless they sense a personal, vital connection to their faith, they will likely move away from it in the future. This study introduced a group of twelfth-grade students at Landmark Christian School to W. Paul Jones’ concept of Theological Worlds. The researcher expected to learn what difference it makes for Christian adolescents who are experiencing a time of transition in their religious lives to consider which Theological Worlds they and others inhabit. The students were selected based upon their designation as “Transitional�? by the Spiritual Experience Index – Revised (SEI-R). The project consisted of six weekly meetings with the group of thirteen participants. During each forty-five-minute meeting, different aspects of each Theological World were introduced through scripture, songs, and videos. Participants then recorded their reflections about what they had seen and heard. After finishing the six meetings, participants completed the SEI-R again to measure if any difference was made. Eleven out of the thirteen participants indicated an increased sense of support related to their faith. The average sense of support among the entire group of participants had risen by almost nine percent. Follow-up interviews with the participants confirmed the accuracy of the data and brought further clarity to the factors that contributed to the increased scores. Among those factors was the sense that they were not alone in the ways they experience and express their faith, as well as the focused attention that was given to the topic for the duration of the study. This thesis concludes by suggesting several ways that these findings can be applied both at and beyond Landmark Christian School to help adolescents move from disorientation to reorientation around the topic of faith.