Spiritual Characteristics of Children, Teens, and Young Adults

Navigating the spiritual landscape of children, teens, and young adults can be both rewarding and challenging. To equip parents, ministry leaders, and caregivers, Thrive is excited to launch our newly revised and expanded Spiritual Characteristics of Children, Teens, and Young Adults. This summary of key characteristics provides a helpful picture of the spiritual journey from childhood to young adulthood. The full online resource explores spiritual characteristics through three subgroups—children, teens, and young adults—and is available in English, Spanish and Korean.

Cultivating a Child’s Relationship with God

Children possess a unique and vibrant spiritual nature that may, at times, be overlooked by adults. As children’s spirituality expert Dr. Rebecca Nye states, “Children's ministry is more than work with children; it is a much wider task of helping the whole church understand what it is about childhood that may help us all to enter the kingdom.” Children's spiritual development is distinct from their cognitive growth, requiring those ministering to children to recognize the importance of fostering a genuine relationship with God rather than merely imparting theological knowledge.

From infants and toddlers forming foundational understandings through caregiver relationships to nine- and ten-year olds finding their own ways to contribute to the church community, each stage presents unique spiritual characteristics. Preschoolers embrace God’s love through play, five- and six-year-olds see Jesus as a friend, while seven- and eight-year-olds explore salvation concepts and develop empathy. The full resource delves deeper into the spiritual characteristics of each of these age groups, providing helpful insights for fostering children’s spiritual growth.

Fostering Authentic Faith in the Teen Years

Teenage years are marked by significant personal and social development, with spiritual journeys varying widely. The Fuller Youth Institute (Growing Young, Three Big Questions) highlights three central questions teens grapple with: “Who am I?”, “Where do I fit?”, and “What difference do I make?”

Preteens and young teens encounter these questions as they seek belonging and grapple with identity, justice, and faith, all while navigating rapid changes. Older teens engage these questions as they form independent faith identities, crave authenticity, and seek to impact the world through service and advocacy.

The full spiritual characteristics resource explores ways that ministry leaders, parents, and caregivers can support teens through these transitions. It offers strategies for creating safe spaces, fostering intergenerational connections, and providing meaningful service opportunities as you strive to nurture faith in these formative years.

Navigating Young Adulthood’s Spiritual Transitions

Young adulthood, defined loosely as ages 18-30, is a period of significant transition and exploration. The traditional path to adulthood has shifted, with many young adults navigating diverse paths and delayed milestones. This "extending of adolescence" presents unique challenges and opportunities as young adults grow in faith.

Young adults navigate key developmental transitions such as self-identification, relating to others, contributing to society, taking responsibility, self-care, acclimating to new environments, and finding meaning and purpose. Churches must adapt to meet their needs, avoiding comparisons to past generations. The full spiritual characteristics resource provides a deeper understanding of these transitions and their implications for spiritual growth in young adults.

Nurturing Lifelong Faith: Explore the Full Resource

Hopefully this overview gives you a glimpse into the rich insights offered by this new resource. By understanding the unique spiritual characteristics of each developmental stage, parents, ministry leaders, and caregivers can create environments that foster genuine faith as children, teens, and young adults grow in their relationship with God.

Visit Spiritual Characteristics of Children, Teens, and Young Adults to access the full online resource, download printable PDFs of the resource in English, Spanish and Korean, and learn ways you might support the spiritual journeys of children, teens and young adults.