New research reveals parents' church attendance is the strongest predictor of their children's lifelong faith practices.



A recent study by the Institute for Family Studies and Communio revealed that children whose parents attended church weekly were more than twice as likely to attend church regularly in adulthood.

“Parents play the single most important role in passing on faith to the next generation,” researchers said, The Christian Post reported.

According to the study, titled “Passing the Torch: How Faith Moves Across Generations,” researchers found that 26% of adults whose parents attended church every week maintained the practice well into their 30s and 40s, whereas only 12% of adults whose parents did not attend church weekly.

When it came to parents considering religion “very important in their lives,” nearly two-thirds of their children were likely to say the same as adults.

Additional factors of children continuing in the faith in adulthood include weekly church attendance, daily prayer, and saying grace together.

“The reality is the married home is the most impactful small group,” Communio founder and CEO J.P. De Gance said in a statement provided to The Christian Post.

“When parents are engaged in the discipleship of their children, this is where faith most often takes deep root,” De Gance added. “This report reinforces important biblical truths and provides some great actionable steps for both parents and pastors to restore Christian faith in their homes and across society.”

Children whose parents were “very happy” in their marriages had a 46% probability of praying daily when they became adults, which was slightly higher than 41% raised by parents who had less happy marriages. Having a good relationship with one’s parents was also a factor.

“Faith isn’t something kids are going to get from the culture," said Jesse Smith, an assistant professor at The Ohio State University and the report’s co-author, told CP in a statement.

"Our study shows that parents are the most important figures for their children's spiritual formation,” Smith explained. “They're the key role models, teachers, and tone-setters for giving kids the foundation in faith they'll take with them into adulthood.

The study, released in June, takes data from four national studies involving thousands of Americans raised in faith-based homes.

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