Six story ideas to raise summer spirits

Posted on May 19th, 2009

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The summer slowdown officially begins with the Memorial Day weekend, and right on cue ReligionLink arrives with a slate of six story ideas to help reporters on a newsroom “staycation.”

Jump to:

Teens turn to volunteering

Immersion vs. mission trips

Summer camps: a window on religious diversity

Pop spirituality watch: summer movies

Green yoga: the new spiritual activism

Every time you hear a bell…


Teens turn to volunteering

This summer is expected to be the worst for teen employment in more than five decades. That means more teens — eager to pad résumés, lacking money for movies and shopping, bored, or simply interested in meaningful service — are likely to turn to volunteering. Experts say the current generation of teens has already shown more passion for volunteering than others in the recent past. Youths ages 16 to 19 volunteered in 2004 at more than twice the rate teens did at the close of the 1980s, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Last summer, teen employment reached a 60-year low in the United States. Just a third of 16- to 19-year-olds held jobs, according to the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University — down from 45 percent in 2000. But what some call a crisis in the teen job market may turn out to be a great opportunity in the world of volunteerism. Studies show that people who develop the habit of volunteering early in life are more likely to continue and expand their volunteerism as they age. And as the struggling economy saps the finances of nonprofits, teen volunteers may play critical roles in organizations with downsized staffs.

Much of the benefit is likely to be seen by religious organizations, which are the most popular organizations for volunteers, followed by educational and youth service organizations. And many studies have shown that people of all faiths say their religious beliefs motivate them to volunteer.

The economic stimulus package may also help stir do-gooderism among teens and young adults. It provides $1.2 billion for youth activities, including the creation of 1 million summer jobs to run them. That money is being distributed to states, where it’s trickling down to counties and local programs. The stimulus plan also provides $201 million for AmeriCorps, which pays people 17 and older to work part- or full-time at nonprofits for 10 or 12 months.

This summer offers a great opportunity to report on teen volunteering, a topic that rarely receives attention beyond stories on individuals or individual programs. The resources below offer national experts and studies to help put local teens’ experience in the context of larger trends.

Sources

  • Alexander W. Astin and Helen S. Astin are co-principal investigators of “Spirituality in Higher Education: A National Study of College Students’ Search for Meaning and Purpose,” an ongoing study by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles. Contact 310-825-1925, aastin@gseis.ucla.edu or hastin@gseis.ucla.edu.
  • CIRCLE (The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement) at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., conducts research on the civic and political engagement of Americans between the ages of 15 and 25. It posts research on its Web site. Its staff can provide expert comments on various aspects of teen volunteering. Contact 617-627-4781.
  • Marcy Fink Campos is director of the Community Service Center at American University in Washington, D.C. The center supports student volunteerism that ranges from structured one-day projects to multiyear initiatives that lead to the development of independent nonprofit organizations. Contact 202-885-7378.
  • Jennifer Shiner is director of the Youth Philanthropy and Service program at the Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. The program promotes leadership and involvement by youth in the giving of time, money and talent to their community. Contact 216-368-0267, jennifer.shiner@case.edu.
  • Nancy Macduff is a volunteer trainer, manager and author who publishes the online newsletter Volunteer Today, which has included articles on how to recruit and retain teen volunteers. She’s based in Walla Walla, Wash. Contact 509-529-0244, mba@bmi.net. See statistics that the newsletter posted from a study that found that more than two-thirds of adult volunteers also volunteered as a youth and 60 percent were involved in a religious organization as a youth.
  • Roger Nozaki is director of the Swearer Center for Public Service at Brown University in Providence, R.I. The center develops programs to strengthen leadership skills and provide direct service; connect community-based work with learning; and build partnerships with local, national and international communities. Contact 401-863-2338, Roger_Nozaki@brown.edu.
  • Sarah Jane Rehnborg is lecturer and associate director for planning and development at the RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. Contact 512-232-7062, rehnborg@mail.utexas.edu.
  • Julie Chavez Rodriguez is programs director at the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation, a nonprofit charitable organization that works to engage youth to live out the values of her grandfather, Cesar E. Chavez. A lifelong volunteer, she is a fellow in the National Service-Learning Emerging Leaders Initiative and serves on the National Youth Leadership Council. Contact her in Los Angeles, 213-362-0260, jrodriguez@cecfmail.org.
  • James Youniss is Wylma R. & James R. Curtin Professor of Psychology at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Youniss has studied teens’ engagement in community service; in particular, he’s studied church-based programs that encourage service. Contact 202-319-5999, youniss@cua.edu.
  • Michelle Nunn is president and CEO of the Points of Light Institute, which mobilizes millions of volunteers to help solve social problems in thousands of communities. Contact through Pat Chandler, 404-979-2900, pchandler@handsonnetwork.org.

Background and research

Immersion vs. mission trips

Summer’s here, and already 14 local groups have contacted you about covering the fabulous youth and adult mission trips they’re planning. Why not try a new angle?

The big debate used to be between two ways of doing missions: Should Christians go out and help people because their faith motivates them to, or should they help people with the primary goal of sharing their faith? Now new debates are sizzling, in part because of the increasing number of domestic and international mission trips for both youth and adults, a trend partly attributed to the growing number of megachurches and independent churches that sponsor their own trips.

What are known as “immersion trips” are gaining popularity as an alternative to traditional mission trips. In immersion trips, participants focus on humbly listening, learning about the local people and culture, and accepting hospitality with a goal of changing their own perspectives by immersing themselves in the daily reality of someone else’s life. That’s a big difference from traditional missions, where participants travel to work on a specific project with the main goal of helping people and/or sharing faith.

Debates focus on whether immersion trips fulfill a biblical mandate if they don’t involve aid or sharing faith. Supporters counter that short-term mission trips can miss their goal by catering too much to participants’ needs and desires, sometimes even complicating the lives of those they’re trying to help. Others question how often traditional short-term mission trips inspire lasting change in individuals.

Explore how mission trips are increasing and evolving as you report on the many youth and adults whose faith and values are sending them across the country or across the world. Below are some national experts who can comment on trends in mission trips, but the best way to report on this topic is to talk to the people who are organizing and traveling on mission trips about why they chose the kind of trip they did and what kind of impact the trip had on people – the participants as well as those who hosted them.

Sources

Background and research

Summer camps: a window on religious diversity

Sure, there have always been religious summer camps, and there always will be. And sure, they’ve increased in variety in recent years. Why write about them this summer? Consider this:

  • The variety of spiritual summer camps hasn’t just increased; it’s blossomed into a rich reflection of the religious diversity of America. What’s more, the number of camps for religious minorities is increasing, making them more accessible to youths in more parts of the country. There are now camps for Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs, as well as Christians and Jews. There are interfaith camps, too. And there are camps for some of the smaller religious groups in North America, including Jains and Bahá’is. And not only are there camps for all the different traditions of the major faiths, there are also camps for niche groups, such as Christian homeschoolers or Christians with disabilities. There are also a growing number of camps for atheists and agnostics, as well as pagans. And then there are specialty camps that combine faith with an activity, such as Catholic soccer camps — featuring Catholic spirituality and coaches from Italy.
  • Camps also cater to the rising number of “nones,” or people who claim no formal religious affiliation. Most nones — a group that makes up about 15 percent of the population — say they have spiritual beliefs. Omega’s teen camp focuses on integrating “mind, body and spirit” and features a sweat lodge. The Association for Research and Enlightenment Virginia Beach, which teaches holistic health, personal spirituality and reincarnation, has camps that include dream interpretation and meditation. And the Light Institute of Galisteo, N.M., says its Nizhoni Summer Camp for Kids promises spiritual adventure, including private “multi-incarnational” sessions with a Light Institute Facilitator and a Light Institute cranial.
  • There are a wide variety of nonreligious camps focused on issues in which spiritual people are often engaged. Consider that research has shown that even camps that don’t have a particular spiritual mission still increase spirituality in children: A 2005 American Camp Association study found parents notice a statistically significant increase in children’s spirituality levels after attending camp – and even six months later – even though campers themselves were less likely to report spiritual growth. Camps that teach sustainable living and environmentalism are gaining in popularity, for example. There are camps that teach conflict resolution. And there are camps focused on practices that, for some, have a spiritual element, such as yoga (favorite name: the Budding Yogis Camp), mindfulness and drumming.
  • Religious summer camps are sometimes places where contentious national issues are explored with youth. The intelligent design-evolution battle has spawned camps. In 2006, the Christian Camp and Conference Association reported that half its camps have science programs about God’s creation, while the Unitarian Universalist congregation in Fresno, Calif., sponsors an “Under the Stars” camp every other year to teach about evolution. (See a July 12, 2006, Newsweek story.) And the tensions in the Middle East are often explored through interfaith camps, where Jews, Muslims and Christians can gain understanding of each other’s views and experiences.

To find camps, talk to youth leaders and to members of religious and cultural communities in your area. To find examples of all the kinds of camps mentioned above, simply Google a key word (such as “interfaith” or “mindfulness”) and “summer camp.”

Sources

  • Bob Ditter is a social worker and author who specializes in working with youth and their families. He is a consultant for the American Camping Association and has worked with summer camps since 1982. In 2007, he gave a talk at the ACA’s national conference about how camps can nurture spiritual development in children and youth. Contact him in Boston, 617-438-3020.
  • Karen-Marie Yust is an associate professor of Christian education at Union Theological Seminary-Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, Va. She is a minister in both the United Church of Christ and Disciples of Christ denominations and is the author of Real Kids, Real Faith: Practices for Nurturing Children’s Spiritual Lives. She directed the Lilly Endowment’s Indiana Camp Ministries Enhancement Program and has written and spoken about the importance of religious camps in nurturing children’s spiritual life. Contact 800-229-2990, kmyust@union-psce.edu.
  • Karla A. Henderson is professor of parks, recreation and tourism management at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. She co-wrote the article “Spiritual Development and Camp Experiences” (scroll down) in New Directions for Youth Development (Volume 2008 Issue 118). Contact 919-513-0352, karla_henderson@ncsu.edu.
  • Peter L. Benson and Eugene C. Roehlkepartain are co-directors of the Center for Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence in Minneapolis. Benson wrote Sparks: How Parents Can Help Ignite the Hidden Strengths of Teenagers (2008). Roehlkepartain specializes in the role of religious institutions and spiritual development in young people’s development. Contact 612-399-0235.
  • Peg Smith is chief executive officer of the American Camp Association, which includes Christian and Jewish as well as secular camps among its 7,000 members. Its newsletters and research include discussion of spirituality. The association is based in Martinsville, Ind. Contact 765-342-8456 ext. 310, psmith@ACAcamps.org. Click on a map for regional contacts.
  • Gerrald B. Silverman is CEO of the Foundation for Jewish Camp in New York City. Contact 646-278-4500, jerry@jewishcamp.org.
  • Bob Kobielush is president of the Christian Camp and Conference Association in Colorado Springs, which has regional contacts. Contact through director of communications Michael Staires,719-260-9400, mstaires@ccca.org.
  • The Hindu Heritage Summer Camp is a summer camp program designed to help Hindu youth reconcile their religion with what it means to be an American. It is an example of one of many Hindu camps across the country. The India Community Center in Rochester, N.Y., runs it. Contact the camp president, Padmanabh Kamath, 585-381-1541.

Background and research

Major surveys of religious identity have offered new details about the religious makeup of America, and, in particular, of minority religious groups and shifts in the major groups. Those details can add important context to stories about religious summer camps and give a sense of the urgency some parents feel for passing on their faith to younger generations, particularly in traditions where the number of adherents is fading fast. Revisit these recent surveys and look for details that can be fleshed out by reporting on kids’ experience at summer camp:

Pop spirituality watch: summer movies

The economy may be down, but movie ticket sales are up – and spiritual themes are bound to be found in the summer’s film fare.

The movie with the most obvious religious angle opened May 15: Angels & Demons, featuring a conclave and the murder of four prominent cardinals. It’s the second Ron Howard-directed take on a novel by Dan Brown, of The Da Vinci Code fame. Once again, some Catholics are aghast that the masses (that’s the public masses) will see a film they say plays fast and loose with the facts.

On July 15, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opens, the long-awaited sixth film in the series. Now that all seven Potter books are published, the film isn’t likely to cause a full replay of the “is it evil or is it not?” debate the Potter series has inspired, but the debate hasn’t completely died down, either, and this film, with Lord Voldemort closing in on Hogwarts, has particularly dark themes.

Other films on the religion radar this summer include Inglourious Basterds (Aug. 21), which follows a group of Jewish-American commandos sent behind enemy lines in Nazi-occupied France. Sacha Baron Cohen’s back July 10 with a satirical film that, like Borat, is bound to offend some religious sensibilities. Brüno features the actor as an over-the-top gay Austrian fashionista and television reporter who shows up in places where he’s less-than-welcome — including the Southern U.S. And then there’s the new Terminator film, opening May 21; it may have nothing to do with religion, but with Salvation in its title and a bloody good vs. evil battle, religious culture watchers may not be able to resist.

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (June 12), a remake of a 1974 movie, features John Travolta and Denzel Washington in a plot with a sacrificial twist: After Travolta hijacks a New York City subway train and with time running out, Washington offers to surrender himself to the hijackers in order to free the hostages. Public Enemies (July 1) features Johnny Depp as John Dillinger, on the run from the FBI during the Depression and no doubt raising questions about just who is an enemy of the public, a question that resonates today. The animated Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (July1) and Year One (with Jack Black and Michael Cera, June 19) both promise comedic takes on early history. But with the creationism/evolution debates flaring, are any representations of early history safe from commentary? And on a whimsical note, the title of Pixar’s animated Up, about a grumpy old man (voiced by Ed Asner) who literally balloons his house to South America, reminds us that spiritual themes are usually found in the most unlikely places – up, down, all around-so keep an eye out for what films spiritual movie-watching groups are flocking to.

Sources

Green yoga: the new spiritual activism

Everything’s going green, and it shouldn’t be any surprise that yoga is, too. But the greening of yoga represents a powerful new wave in the popularity of the practice among Westerners, wedding environmental and spiritual activism. Yoga is the practice of physical and mental disciplines with roots in Hinduism and ancient India; it’s also regarded as a religious practice by Buddhists and Jains. More than 15 million Americans have embraced yoga, most often as a general mind-body-spirit exercise. It has also been borrowed by other religious traditions, inspiring classes in Christian yoga and Jewish yoga.

The green yoga movement is reclaiming the spiritual element of yoga by returning it to the moral and philosophical principles it was founded on. Green teachers say that yoga, since its beginnings, has involved nurturing an intimate connection to the natural world. The Vedas — the earliest scriptures in India, dating back 3,500 years — record praises to the Earth, water and nature, for example. By deepening practitioners’ spiritual connection to the Earth, the teachers say, yoga can inspire them to be more active in caring for it, no matter what their religion.

Environmentalism is the other major thrust in the green yoga movement. Yoga practice in itself has no impact on the environment, of course. But the people behind the green yoga movement became aware that the popularization of yoga has spawned products and practices that are anything but eco-friendly. Green yoga proponents encourage people to not only deepen their connection to the environment through practice but also to extend that appreciation to caring for the world by using products and encouraging policies that protect it. The Green Yoga Association, for example, began promoting the use of eco-friendly yoga mats six years ago after it learned that most were made with environmental toxins; now most companies that sell mats offer an eco-friendly version. The association also encourages teachers to “green” their yoga studios as a way of increasing practitioners’ environmental awareness, making them energy-efficient, using eco-friendly materials, reducing the number of paper handouts and encouraging transportation by bicycle or public transit.

The potential impact of the green yoga movement is large. Americans are spending $5.7 billion a year on yoga classes and products, according to Yoga Journal’s Yoga in America study — an 87 percent increase over 2004. About 7 percent of Americans practice yoga, but 1 in 12 say they are interested in trying it – a tripling of interest over 2004. Almost half of practitioners said they started yoga as a way to improve their health.

Environmentalism has gained new momentum as concern about global warming has increased. Yoga practice has grown in popularity among stressed-out Westerners. And spiritual seeking is on the rise outside of religious institutions. The green yoga movement represents an influential new trend in yoga practice by knitting together environmentalism and spiritual activism. The resources below will lead you to teachers and studios that practice green yoga.

Sources

  • The Green Yoga Association is a network of yoga practitioners, teachers and businesses who believe that taking care of the planet is essential to yoga practice. It’s based in Emeryville, Calif. It posts a directory of more than 100 “green” yoga studios and teachers all over the country. Contact 888-659-7925.
  • The third green yoga conference will take place May 29-31, 2009, at Loyola Marymount University, which offers a certificate program in green yoga. The 2009 conference theme is yoga, animals and ecology. Contact 310-338-1971.
  • Christopher Chapple is Navin and Pratima Doshi Professor of Indic and Comparative Theology at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and a member of the Green Yoga Association. He specializes in yoga, Buddhism and Jainism and teaches green yoga. He is the author of Yoga and the Luminous: Patanjali’s Spiritual Path to Freedom (2009). Contact 310-338-2846, cchapple@lmu.edu.
  • Swasti Bhattacharyya is associate professor of philosophy and religion at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa. She specializes in environmental ethics, comparative religious ethics, peace studies, Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, ancient Judaism and early Christianity. She is a speaker at the 2009 green yoga conference. Contact 712-749-2181, bhattacharyya@bvu.edu.
  • Georg and Brenda Feuerstein are the authors of Green Yoga. She is director of Traditional Yoga Studies, which posts articles about green yoga, including “What Is Green Yoga?” Contact tyslearning@sasktel.net.
  • For more sources, see ReligionLink’s guide to experts on Hinduism, which lists experts who study yoga, and the guide to Buddhism.
  • Read a Feb. 26, 2008, Yoga Journal story reporting the results of its Yoga in America survey.
  • Read a May 2005 LA Yoga Magazine story on the greening of yoga.

Every time you hear a bell …

Imagine … John Lennon’s hopeful but decidedly atheistic song ringing out from a staid old church bell tower. That’s what happened May 16, 2009, at the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool, England. The Anglican/Episcopal world is abuzz, but the controversy surrounding the performance also drew attention to the 40 church towers in the U.S. and Canada — including the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. — where dedicated teams of people heave and ho huge bells in the 17th-century art of “change ringing.”

Summer is a good time to report on these dedicated bell ringers because many perform for weddings in addition to church services or have sessions inviting newcomers to join in, such as the “novice fest” hosted by St. James Episcopal Church in Dallas.

Lennon’s song – with its line, “Imagine there’s no heaven, it’s easy if you try, No hell below us, above us only sky” — is hardly the usual fare for change ringers, who work in teams in which individuals, usually standing in a circle, swing huge bells — weighing from a couple hundred pounds to several tons — to produce orderly cascades of sounds. There is no keyboard or electronics controlling the bells — that’s how the carillons in most bell towers work — and melodies are extremely difficult. That’s one reason an attempt to play a song such as Imagine is remarkable. (To hear and see people change ringing, visit this link.)

To see if change ringing is in the air near you, check the list of bell towers (with contact information) provided by the North American Guild of Change Ringers. Change ringing is also performed by handbell choirs; see a list of groups around the country.

Sources

NOTE: Be sure to explore our “Holidays” archive for ideas from summers past — oldies but goodies.


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