I heard a pastor recently complain how difficult it is to get potential new members to his church to commit to attend a series of classes to learn about the local church and the greater denomination before they would be formally received into membership. They didnt want a lot of classes over an expanse of time lest it muffed their nights and weekends and everything else they have going.Maybe its a generational thing, the pastor surmised. An unwillingness to commit. Conflicted lukewarm joiners used to the freedom of independence. Maybe because society seems more wary about religion and more standoffish, these thinking-about-joining folks have the upper hand as to what faith community ends up getting them if any do at all. Seekers have so much to choose from in their odyssey. Results of the Spiritual Quest, a survey of 112,232 students at 236 colleges and universities gave hope that the faith community should be able to recruit the next generation if they better understand them. The study, funded by the well-known John Templeton Foundation, found 76 percent of students reported being on a search for meaning and purpose in life, while 17 percent said they were not. Three in four said they were actively having discussions with peers and friends about it. More specifically, 77 percent agreed it was either essential or very important that they actively try to attain wisdom; 67 percent in becoming more loving persons; 54 percent found it essential or very important to seek beauty in their lives; 54 percent were for improving the human condition; 49 percent to attain inner harmony; 45 percent affirmed the importance of finding answers to mysteries of life; and 42 supported developing a meaningful philosophy of life. By a high number, students saw going to college as crucial to their finding meaning in life. Among freshman, it was 71 percent. To all the above issues, women routinely gave more assent to them in quest for meaning. For example, 59 percent of women and 48 percent of men are seeking beauty in their lives, according to the study. When students were asked to identify their religious preferences and they were put up against the spiritual quest topic, it was largely inconclusive. The surveyors sought to see whether higher scorers on spiritual quest would or could state a preference. Mormons and Unitarians most often were identified (39 percent). Lows were Jewish (24 percent), Quaker (26 percent) and Lutheran (27 percent). Those who are high scorers on spiritual quest are more likely than their low scoring peers to say they were secure in their religious beliefs (48 to 40 percent) and to report that they pray (39 percent versus 15 percent) or meditate (10 percent versus 1 percent) on a daily basis, found the study, carried out with a $1.9 million grant. It surely affirms the importance of the university as that amazing setting and idea marketplace for vigorous exploration and debate about belief, faith and relevance.The study found students feel poised to use an ethic of caring as they learn, understand and begin engaging in the world. They seem more comfortable with an ecumenical worldview approach and a greater connection to all humanity. And for some, internal struggles about spiritual matters and conflicting feeling about the beliefs nurtured in them continue to broil as their own spiritual ethos and identity take clear shape and unfold.

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