Your Faith Inventory asks the respondents how they feel about their faith in ten different questions. The questions range in feelings about adults in their community, expectations from the Church, how they feel about God and prayer, and how interested they are in learning about or discussing the Catholic faith with others. Each question has five possible answers, each one reflects a more significant openness to faith growth than the previous. The YFI is “scored” by assigning a numerical value to each answer and averaging the questions together.
There is a predictable pattern in faith development that can help schools and parishes to determine a ministry emphasis for the people they serve. These emphases are based on the four elements of faith formation: Care and Belonging, Spiritual Encounters, Clarity and Meaning (catechesis), and Accountability for Christian Living. All people, regardless of their YFI score should be engaged with all four elements of faith development with a significant emphasis on the one that would benefit them most.
The YFI was introduced to parishes and schools in 2022. Since then, nearly 5,000 YFIs have been completed for over 30 different parishes and schools, ranging from Confirmation groups, Catholic school student bodies, and adult catechists, parents, and adult and teens who attend specific formational programs.
A person wishing to utilize the Your Faith Inventory system will be set up with as a Community Manager. A Community Manager can break up his/her community into a series of Groups. For example, a diocese could be a community, in which all their schools are separate groups. Or, a parish can be the community, in which various programs (e.g., Confirmation, Religious Education, Youth Group) could be separate groups. Each group can be assigned a Group Manager who can only see the result for her/his group, but a Community Manager can see results from all respondents in their community.
Once Communities and groups are established, community leaders can schedule an Inventory. Each inventory they schedule will be fixed to a schedule with a start date and an end date, will utilize a specific method of giving respondents access to the inventory, and will be specific to a target audience (Adults, Catholic School students, or youth in general).
Respondents are invited to complete the faith inventory by their community or group managers. Respondents will be required to identify themselves and provide some demographic information for tracking purposes. However, respondents are provided the ability to limit which aspects of their inventory are shared with group leaders. The process of accessing the YFI and completing the inventory takes about 5 minutes.
The YFI allows us to divide students into groupings based on similar expressions of their faith journey. The goal of ministry with young people is to create an environment where they are comfortable where they are, and then to stretch them into growing into the next phase of their faith journey. We meet them where they are, but don't keep them there. Use of colors in this report are intentional to draw visual connections to phase levels.
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YFI Score
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Typical Expressions and Beliefs | What we can EMPHASIZE to help them most |
|---|---|---|
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0.0 - 0.5
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General rejection or willful disregard for matters of faith. Common statements include:
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Care and belonging, specifically building relationships of trust and listening to their concerns. |
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0.5 - 1.5
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General apathetic about faith, but not antagonistic either. Common statements include:
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Care and belonging, specifically helping them feel safe exploring faith without judgement or criticism, modeling authentic Christian love for them. |
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1.5 - 2.5
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Generally open to spiritual experience, if they are invited, and may be more likely to pray on their own. Common statements include:
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Spiritual encounters, specifically soft, invitational nudges to dive deeper into authentic prayer and to reflect more on how God is present in their lives. Use witness talks, various prayer styles, and time to process and reflect on those experience. |
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2.5 - 3.5
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Generally, there has been some internal conversion in their lives where they have chosen to take their faith more seriously. An openness and curiosity about the faith is not to be confused with the desire to be a good student. Their curiosity is personal and applicable. Common statements include:
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Clarity and meaning, specifically, help them find resources and relationships in which they can dive deeper into what God reveals through His Church. Connecting them with the catechism is good, but it's more valuable to help them with applying Church teaching to their own lives than merely learning about Church teachings. |
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3.5 - 4.0
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Generally, take very seriously the call to live an authentic Christian life. They want adults to challenge them and hold them accountable, coaching them past their struggles and toward a fulfilling and meaningful life as a follower of Jesus.
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Accountability, specifically, a peer network of others who are in the same place in their faith, church leaders who have the ability to coach them through the Christian struggle, spiritual directors, and regular access (and expectations) to receive the sacraments. |