Cogeneration is an incentive for religiously engaged adults to participate in their faith communities, according to a nationally representative survey conducted by YouGov and commissioned by CoGenerate.

Nearly half of religiously engaged adults surveyed say that cogenerational opportunities would increase their interest in participation in their faith community. Specifically,

• 45% say they are more likely to participate in their religious or faith communities if offered the chance to build relationships with older and younger people.
• 44% say they are more likely to participate if offered the chance to join forces with older and younger people to address community problems.

The survey polled 1,500 adults in the U.S. about their religious or spiritual communities, their interaction with older and younger people, and their views on building connections across different age groups. Conducted last fall, the survey was nationally representative by gender, age, race, education and political affiliation.

The survey – Can Bringing Older and Younger People Together Renew Religious Communities? – also found that:

• Most religiously engaged adults think their communities need to do more to bring generations together but struggle to envision new approaches to connecting the generations.

• Cross-generational mentoring is an appealing approach but often falls short in execution.

• Cogenerational opportunities are unlikely to draw non-religious people into faith spaces, but they could draw religiously engaged people out to the wider community as a force for good.

CoGenerate’s report includes reflection and discussion questions and an opportunity to send thoughts and reactions to CoGen Impact Fellow Eddie Gonzalez, who is conducting in-depth interviews with religious and faith leaders on their views on cogeneration in their communities.

• Read CoGenerate’s report here. 
• Register for CoGenerate’s briefing on survey findings on May 14 here.
• Share your reflections on the data here.

Coming this summer: CoGenerate will publish a qualitative research report, including promising cogenerational practices and innovations that will help spiritual leaders make the most of our increasingly multigenerational society.

CoGenerate thanks the Templeton Religion Trust for supporting this work. Thanks to Cal Halvorsen, Senior Research Fellow at CoGenerate and Associate Professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, for serving as the research advisor for this study. And thanks to a group of advisors, including Serena Bian, Jeremy Fricke, Laura Geller, Danielle Gladstone, Lofton Holder, Raymond Jetson, Daniel Pryfogle, and Ruth Wooden.