The aim of the project has been to investigate the contemporary meanings and significance of religion of young Scottish Christians in Glasgow, including:

• How young Scottish Christians experience religion in their daily lives, and the meanings that they ascribe to religious identities;
• The personal and social factors that influence these constructions of religious meaning and religious identity;
• How religious meanings are shaped by intergenerational relations and how understandings of religion differ between young people and their guardians.

We hope you will use this website to explore what we have heard from young people during our research and how we have interpreted the practices, beliefs and feelings of the young people we have worked with.

Who have participated?  

• Young people (ages 16-29)
• Parents/guardians
• A range of different Christian groups and organisations in Glasgow
• Young people from different parts of the city and social backgrounds.

A few things we have heard from young people…

• Sectarian ‘bigotry seems to be raising its ugly head again. It had lost its voice—it had a sore throat!—but now it’s back’. Male3, Group 1, Catholic
• ‘I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of faithful students at uni., but it’s almost the reverse amongst academics’. Male 2, Group 1, Catholic  
• ‘I think most “secular” things can be sacred as long as they’re not abused. I think they can be sacramental. It’s about intent’. Callum., age 26
• Media is key. ‘It’s what people are influenced by’. ‘Churches need to be more relevant, here we have a drum kit and stuff’. Male 1, Group 2, Pentecostal Protestant.
• ‘Our church is not about religion, it’s faith. With faith you have a choice. Traditional churches are about rules and regulations, but for us it’s about your relationship with God’. Female 1, Group 2, Pentecostal Protestant.
• ‘I find that as I get older that actually I get a strange respect [from others] for being different—like for not drinking because I’m a Christian’. Male 2, Group 2, Pentecostal Protestant.