My Featured Review Essay of The Twenty-something Soul (OUP 2019) just came out in Sociology of Religion. Authors Tim Clydesdale and Kathleen Garces-Foley do an excellent job of providing the reader with a clear understanding of the social and religious characteristics of today’s Mainline Protestant, Catholic, Evangelical and unaffiliated twenty-somethings. The book uses both survey data and interviews to look at religious and nonreligious twenty-somethings’ commitments and challenges, providing many insights. It is a great book for both scholars and ministers, as I close my review by writing:

[T]hrough its clear presentation of the findings and insightful analysis, this is a timely book that answers questions in both the public and academic minds. The Twentysomething Soul is an exciting new addition to the sociological literature on religion and young adults and is a must-read for those working in campus or young adult ministry.

The most recent edition of The CARA Report featured two of my projects.

First, my edited collection, Young Adult American Catholics, was featured. The summary highlighted discussed the major parts of the book as well as highlighted the contribution of CARA senior researcher, Mary Gautier, as an example. You can read the report here.

Second, some findings from the report on the USCCB national study of Catholic campus ministers, co-authored with Brian Starks, were also featured; the CARA feature can be viewed here.

As any scholar knows, it is one thing to do research. It is an entirely different task to get your analysis into the hands of the audiences that would most benefit from these findings. Thank you, CARA, for your not only your own important research, but also your generosity in spreading the research of others in the field.

I’m very grateful to Dan Morris-Young of the National Catholic Reporter for the thoughtful and positive review he gave of my Young Adult American Catholics. He concludes his review by noting some of the most relevant audiences for the book, writing:

The book could be a valuable tool on many fronts, in addition to simply providing its reader with a panoramic sense of young adult Catholics. Parish leaders could be better-informed in the evaluation of young adult outreach. Diocesan planners could gain insight into specific challenges, such as ministry to the LGBTQ community or to young Hispanics. Lay organizations might have light bulbs come on about involving young adults in their perhaps flagging apostolates.

Please enjoy the full text of his review here and if you prefer to purchase on amazon, you may do so here.