Keywords
Influence
Integrity
Trust
Christian Community
Religious Socialization
How to Cite
Abstract
This study explores the dynamic relationship between fluctuations of faith and the quest for community among Norwegian millennials using a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative data from a survey of 585 participants with follow-up interviews. The research reveals that faith is not static but evolves throughout life, and for many, it changes back and forth several times. The study also looks at when these changes seem to happen and elaborates on what lies behind them. The application of McAdams' Life Story Theory suggests that these faith narratives are integral to individuals' broader life stories and identity formation, where one looks back at different vantage points in life, and what you see may be different from how you once saw it. The relation aspect seems to be an important point, where warmth, trust and integrity play a central role, which makes it interesting to look at this also through the lens of the integrative model of organizational trust.
Among the stories of those who have distanced themselves to a greater extent from the faith, an interesting aspect nevertheless emerges. It seems to be a form of longing for the community that once was a part of their life, at least where trust re-emerges, even if the community was perhaps left intentionally at an earlier point in life. Perhaps faith does not stand alone? Perhaps the Christian community has an attraction in itself that should not be underestimated, at least for those who have once experienced it. How can the church meet fluctuation of faith, be experienced as relevant through the different seasons of life, and help the individual with the transition from mere longing to actual reintegration with a community?
References
Afdal, G., Learning, & Knowledge Trajectories in, C. (2013). Religion som Bevegelse : Læring, Kunnskap og Mediering. Universitetsforl.
Aisthorpe, S. (2014). Investigating the Invisible Church: A Survey of Christians in the Highlands and Islands who are not Part of a Church Congregation. Rural Theology, 12(2), 83-95. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1179/1470499414Z.00000000028
Aisthorpe, S. (2016). The Invisible Church : Learning from the Experiences of Churchless Christians. Saint Andrew Press.
Ammerman, N. T. (2007). Everyday Religion : Observing Modern Religious Lives. Oxford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195305418.001.0001
Ammerman, N. T. (2014). Sacred Stories, Spiritual Tribes : Finding Religion in Everyday Life. Oxford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199896448.001.0001
Atkinson, P., Silverman, D., & Attanucci, J. (2003). Inside Interviewing. SAGE Publications, Inc.
Bengtson, V. L. (2017). Families and faith: How Religion is passed down across Generations. Oxford University Press.
Bengtson, V. L., Hayward, R. D., Zuckerman, P., & Silverstein, M. (2018). Bringing Up Nones: Intergenerational Influences and Cohort Trends. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 57(2), 258-275. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12511
Birkedal, E. (2008). "Kanskje Jeg Tror på en Gud, men-" : en Langtidsstudie av Gudstro hos Unge fra 13 til 25 År (Vol. [1]). IKO-forl.
Birkedal, E. (2020). Religiøsitet fra Barndom til Voksen : Tretten Livshistorier om Tro og Livstolkning (Vol. 15). IKO-forlaget.
Bjørntvedt, A. (2024). Establishing Faith – The Close Relationships, the Early Influences and the Aspect of Integrity and Trust: A Mixed Method Study Among 30–40-year old’s in Norway. Journal of Youth and Theology, 1-26. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/24055093-bja10064
Bulander, T. M. (2007). Moments that matter: The Lived Experience of Belonging in Faith Communities (Publication Number 3292940) [Ph.D., University of Minnesota]. ProQuest One Academic. United States -- Minnesota.
Engedal, L. G. (2006). Gudserfaring og Identitetsdannelse : om Sammenhenger mellom Identitet og Tro. In (pp. 94-112). Kom forlag.
Gilsvik, E. (2023a). Phantoms of Faith – Experiences of Rupture and Residue of Amputated Religiosity among Norwegian Ex-Charismatic Christians. Religions, 14(12), 1532. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14121532
Gilsvik, E. (2023b). “Some days Iʼm an Atheist and Other Days Iʼm a Believer”: Variations of Ambivalence among Disaffiliates from Norwegian High-Cost Charismatic Christianity. Nordic Journal of Religion and Society, 36(1), 33-48. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18261/njrs.36.1.3
Harbo, S. (1989). Barndomserfaringer og Voksentro : en Religionspsykologisk Uundersøkelse av Forholdet mellom tidlig Påvirkning og senere Holdning til Kristendom. Universitetsforlaget.
Howe, N., & Strauss, W. (2000). Millennials Rising : The Next Great Generation. Vintage Books.
Jamieson, A. (2002). A Churchless Faith: Faith Journeys Beyond the Churches. SPCK. https://books.google.no/books?id=hoJtQgAACAAJ
Kalfoss, M. H., Nygaard, M. R., Kleiven, T., & Nilsen, M. (2020). Sources of Weakened Spiritual Faith among Norwegian Adults. Journal for the Study of Spirituality, 10(2), 140-154. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/20440243.2020.1812887
Kallatsa, L., Spännäri, J., & Tervo-Niemelä, K. (2023). Safety and Closeness in Religious Socialization: A Mixed Methods Study of Finnish Families. Journal of Empirical Theology, 36(1), 123-142. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/15709256-20231144
Kierkegaard, S., Hong, E. H., & Hong, H. V. (1992). Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments. Volume I, Text. Princeton University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400846993
Luckmann, T., Kaden, T., & Schnettler, B. (2022). The Invisible Religion the Problem of Religion in Modern Society. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003257875
Mayer, R. C., Davis, J. H., & Schoorman, F. D. (1995). An Integrative Model of Organizational Trust. The Academy of Management review, 20(3), 709-734. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/258792
McAdams, D. P. (1997). The Stories We Live by : Personal Myths and the Making of the Self. Guilford Press.
McGuire, M. B. (2008). Lived Religion : Faith and Practice in Everyday Life. Oxford University Press.
Mikkola, T., Niemelä, K., & Petterson, J. (2007). The Questioning Mind : Faith and Values of the New Generation (Vol. 58). Church Research Institute.
Nygaard, M. R., Kalfoss, M., Kleiven, T., & Nilsen, M. (2022). Changes in Faith: Sources of Increased Faith Among Norwegian Adults. Pastoral psychology, 71(1), 95-117. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-021-00978-x
OpenAI. (2024). ChatGTP-4o [Large language model] http://chat.openai.com
Perrin, R. (2020). Changing Shape: The Faith Lives of Millennials. SCM Press.
Repstad, P. (1984). Fra Ilden til Asken : En Studie i Religiøs Passivisering. Univ.forl.
Schoorman, F. D., Mayer, R. C., & Davis, J. H. (2007). An Integrative Model of Organizational Trust: Past, Present, and Future. The Academy of Management review, 32(2), 344-354. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2007.24348410
Smith, C., & Snell, P. (2009). Souls in Transition : The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults. Oxford Unversity Press.
Tervo-Niemelä, K. (2020). Religious Upbringing and other Religious Influences among Young Adults and Changes in Faith in the Transition to Adulthood: A 10-year Longitudinal Study of Young People in Finland. British Journal of Religious Education, 1-15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01416200.2020.1740169
Tveitereid, K., & Norheim, B. (2021). Theological Wiggle Room as a Resource in Ordinary Theology: Significance for Ecclesiology, Leadership, and Personal Development. International Journal of Practical Theology, 25(2), 206-223. h DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ijpt-2020-0033
Visser-Vogel, E., Westerink, J., de Kock, J., Barnard, M., & Bakker, C. (2012). Developing a Framework for Research on Religious Identity Development of Highly Committed Adolescents. Religious education, 107(2), 108-121. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00344087.2012.660413
Zeiffert, R. (2023). «Jeg har på en måte alltid gått der» : Betydningen av Personlig Omvendelse blant Unge i Lavkirkelige Bevegelser. Scandinavian Journal of Leadership and Theology 10. DOI: https://doi.org/10.53311/sjlt.v10.113
Zuckerman, P. (2008). Society without God : What the Least Religious Nations can Tell us about Contentment. University Press.
Zuckerman, P. (2012). Faith no More : Why People Reject Religion. Oxford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199740017.001.0001
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2025 Andreas Bjørntvedt