Despite a notable decline in religious affiliation among young adults, college chaplains are witnessing a resurgence in student engagement with religious life programs. Recent research indicates that around 40% of young adults do not identify with any established religion. However, university religious programs are seeing higher attendance than in previous decades. Inspired by historical figures like Yale's William Sloane Coffin Jr., many modern chaplains are reimagining their spiritual roles to address students' broader needs for belonging and meaning, transcending traditional religious boundaries.
Many of these chaplains are taking inspiration from Coffin: They're reimagining what a spiritual leader can be in order to better meet the needs and beliefs of their students.
Although a 2022 report from the Public Religion Research Institute found that nearly 40 percent of young adults do not identify with any established religion, college students are actually attending religious-life programs in larger numbers than they have in decades.
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