Die afgelope week het die Amerikaanse Bybelgenootskap hulle nuutste navorsing bekend gemaak. The State of the Bible.
Een hoofstuk gaan interessant genoeg oor die verskillende generasies se verhouding met die Bybel.
Ek haal graag ‘n paar dele aan wat ‘n prentjie help skets oor die Amerikaanse gebruik van die Bybel wat verseker binnekort ook die Suid-Afrikaanse gebruik van die Bybel sal weërspieël.
“If our churches and ministries are led by older people who critisize younger people for being youthful, they’re in trouble.”
“We see many Millennials using their distinctly Millennial traits to serve the church effectively, and we anticipate similar contributions from GenZ in the decades to come.”
InterGen “offers us unprecedented opportunity to foster relationships between people of very different ages at a scale never seen before.”
“While Generations X, Y, and Z all show a decrease from the two oldest groups, it’s usually the Millennials who score the lowest on Church attendance.”
“Generation Z faces higher levels of stress than older generations.”
“Across the board, females were more likely to report high anxiety than were males.”
Anxiety:
1/3 GenZ experience high levels of anxiety.
1/4 Millennials experience high levels of anxiety.
1/5 GenX experience high levels of anxiety.
Depression:
1/4 GenZ have high depression symptoms
1/8 Millennials have high depression symptoms
1/10 GenX have high depressions symptoms
Q: Is hierdie generasionele vlakke van angs en depressie moontlik gelink aan blootstelling tot verskillende vorme van sosiale media?
“Research shows that GenZ is facing a mental health crisis, with stress, and depression far beyond the norm…a mental health crisis and rise in loneliness in the U.S. that disproportionally affects young adults…Protecting the mental health of young people is regarded as a national emergency.”
“The mental health crisis can be viewed as a ministry mandate for churches and Christian ministries, for individual believers and families of everyone in GenZ, but especially for GenZ women. What can we do to alleviate these alarming levels of stress, anxiety, and depression?”
“People who read the Bible regularly and apply it to their lives report fewer symptoms of stress, anxiety, or depression. This is true throughout the survey data, and especially among GenZ women.”
“It might surprise you that more than one in five Elders (22%) are divorced or separated, along with one in four Boomers (25%)…Overall, fewer than half of American adults are married (47%).”
“Denominations with a strong cultural heritage enjoy the loyalty of older members, but may need to cultivate relationships in younger generations.”
“Each new generation, from Elders to Millennials, shows a decline in religious commitment and Scripture engagement…But one factor continues to create hope: Curiosity…GenZ leads the way in curiosity. Three of four indicate some level of curiosity about the Bible or Jesus.”
As Sasha Johfre puts is: “…bringing people together across generational divides can introduce new ideas and encourage new levels of empathy in interpersonal relationships and groups.”
Gaan gerus na https://sotb.research.bible om die navorsing af te laai.
PDF: https://1s712.americanbible.org/state-of-the-bible/stateofthebible/State_of_the_bible-2022.pdf