The Top Reason Teens Keeps the Faith as Young Adults

Here's a supporting reason why my wife and I should be more involved in telling our kids what we believe and why we believe. Moreover, modeling to them how our daily actions are shaped and guided by those beliefs - not because of our Filipino American heritage but because of our Christian beliefs. Parents, for better or worse, are actually the most influential pastors of their children.

The holy grail for helping youth remain religiously active as young adults has been at home all along: parents.

Mothers and fathers who practice what they preach and preach what they practice are far and away the major influence related to adolescents keeping the faith into their 20s, according to new findings from a landmark study of youth and religion.

Just 1 percent of teens ages 15 to 17 raised by parents who attached little importance to religion were highly religious in their mid-to-late 20s.

In contrast, 82 percent of children raised by parents who talked about faith at home, attached great importance to their beliefs and were active in their congregations were themselves religiously active as young adults, according to data from the latest wave of the National Study of Youth and Religion.

Read more: David Briggs, The Huffington Post