Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Project Portfolio

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

Department

Seminary

First Advisor

Darcy Hansen, DMin

Second Advisor

Robin Pyles, DMin

Third Advisor

MaryKate Morse, PhD

Abstract

This Doctoral Project addresses a significant and persistent challenge within evangelical churches: 70% of Evangelical teens disengage from church upon high school graduation. While often attributed to rebellion or declining belief, this project investigates deeper formative dynamics contributing to this disengagement.

Research revealed that many adolescents do not disengage because they reject faith, but because they lack safe, relational spaces within the church to voice meaningful questions about God, suffering, identity, and belief. When questioning is met with discomfort, defensiveness, or premature answers, adolescents often internalize the message that doubt is incompatible with faith. The research also surfaced that many adults accompanying teenagers carry unresolved questions of their own and feel ill-equipped to remain present when certainty gives way to complexity. Finally, the findings affirm that spiritual formation is most effectively nurtured through sustained relationships, dialogical engagement, and embodied practices, with questions functioning not as a threat to discipleship but as a vital component of it.

This project emerges from my context as a Family Pastor in Bend, Oregon. I have served within the same church congregation for nearly twenty years. Walking alongside children, teenagers, and families over the years allowed patterns of engagement, questioning, and disengagement to emerge naturally across different stages of development.

In response, this Doctoral Project produced a relational, question-centered guide designed to equip adults to accompany teenagers more faithfully in their spiritual formation. Organized around twenty-five core questions voiced by adolescents, the guide emphasizes listening, theological depth, shared practices, and ongoing conversation. Rather than resolving doubt, the project invites adults and teens to remain together in attentive, hopeful exploration, fostering a resilient faith that can endure beyond childhood.

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