A team of researchers from the Convention of Atlantic Baptist Churches (CABC) [1] and Acadia Divinity College (ADC) [2] collaborated to learn more about youth and youth leaders involved in Tidal Impact 2009 [3]. Tidal Impact, Canada’s largest youth mission program, is sponsored by the Convention of Atlantic Baptist Churches and is held on alternating summers in different locations in Atlantic Canada.

The team is made up of Rev. Dale Stairs (Director of Youth & Family Ministries for CABC and Director of the Youth Ministry Program at ADC), Mrs. Jody Linkletter (Associate Director of Youth and Family Ministries for CABC), and Dr. Bruce Fawcett (Associate Professor of Leadership at ADC). The team is anchored by The Rev’d Canon Professor Leslie J. Francis, Professor of Religions and Education at the University of Warwick in the UK. Professor Francis holds doctoral degrees from the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Wales and has authored more than 500 peer-reviewed academic articles and 50 books. He is an international leader in the field of Empirical Theology and supervised the writing of both Fawcett’s and Linkletter’s doctoral dissertations.

Two surveys were conducted during Tidal Impact – one for the leaders and the other for the youth. The primary goal of the leaders’ survey was to learn more about longevity in youth ministry leadership. “We want to learn what churches can do to encourage volunteers and youth pastors to stick with youth ministry over the long haul”, commented Stairs. “Most research indicates that the longer an adult is involved in a student’s life the greater the influence they will have.”

The primary goal of the youth survey was to learn what the youth think about their faith and spirituality. “We’ve been studying this topic among Tidal Impact participants since 2002 and we are developing some longitudinal data now that can really help us understand the evolving spiritual beliefs and practices of youth in Atlantic Canada,” commented Linkletter.

While the team anticipates that what is learned from the data will be disseminated widely through articles in academic journals, it also anticipates that the lessons learned will be shared both in the classroom at ADC and through conferences and seminars to benefit leaders and churches. “We have a strong interest in youth ministry at Acadia”, stated Fawcett, “and we want to be current and relevant in what we teach. Studies like these help us assist students in understanding the interests and priorities of youth they will be ministering to upon graduation. In addition, these surveys allow ADC to be a useful resource to local churches and our alumni who are serving faithfully among young people week by week.”