LCMS Youth Poll: Majority Pro-Life, Pro-Traditional Marriage, Pro-Abstinence
According to a denomination-wide poll in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, the majority of its youth believe in abstinence before marriage, relying on God for advice, the wrongness of homosexuality, and the sacredness of unborn life
According to a denomination-wide youth poll in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS), “young people are still spending relatively less time in Bible study or devotions while they consider themselves active in church.”
The results, according to the Rev. Terry Dittmer, director of LCMS Youth Ministry, are “noteworthy for the fact that nothing changed much from the last poll taken three years ago.”
"What that means, is that -- just as the 2001 poll results indicated -- young people in the Synod are still spending relatively less time in Bible study or devotions while they consider themselves active in church, and pretty much agree with the Synod's strong stands against abortion and sex outside of marriage, as well as against homosexual behavior,” added Dittmer.
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The largest difference between the 2004 and 2001 results, according to Dittmer, was the number of youth partaking in the study.
"This was by far the largest sample ever drawn," Dittmer said. In 2001, there were 1,870 respondents; there were 2,493 respondents in 2004.
In general, 17 percent of those polled in 2004 – as compared to 25 percent polled in 2001 – said premarital sex is fine as long as two people love one another; 65 percent of youth in 2004 – as compared to 68.7 percent in 2001 – said they have never engaged in sexual intercourse; and 9 percent – as compared to 9.6 percent in 2001 – said they have had sexual intercourse, but now abstain.
In faith based involvement issues, the study found that 78 percent of 2004 LCMS youth consider themselves active or very active in their congregations; 91 percent said they sometimes or always rely on God to help make decisions; and 46 percent said they engage in “almost no personal Bible study or devotion.”
Regarding homosexual behavior, 70 percent of LCMS youth said it is wrong to practice homosexuality, 18 percent said it is nobody’s business, and 63 percent said marriage is for one man and one woman only.
On the question regarding women pastors, only 14 percent of the youth said women should be ordained while 41 percent said they should not.
In pro-life issues, 75 percent of those polled said they are pro-life and 13 percent said they are pro-choice. 43 percent of youth also said they favor death penalty.
Upon analyzing the data, Dittmer took note that the poll “helps us in LCMS Youth Ministry evaluate the needs for resources that are effective for congregations as it gives us a feel for who the young people in the LCMS are."
"The fact that youth cite their own faith as their top concern suggests a strong need for the church to continue focusing on faith development for its junior- and senior-high youth," Dittmer said.
"This year's poll also points to the need for the church to continue sharing its position on significant issues like church fellowship, human sexuality, abortion and women's ordination," he said. "And the fact that a sizeable portion of our youth feel the way they do about using abusive substances is a matter of concern that the church needs to address."
For the complete results of the poll, please visit: www.lcms.org/youth.
