ABSTRACT
Religion offers a spiritual context in which a young person can explore issues related to identity development. The beliefs, worldview, and values of religious traditions provide an ideological context in which a young person can generate a sense of meaning, order, and place in the world that is crucial to identity formation. Religions often provide opportunities for adolescents to interact with peers and build intergenerational relationships as well. Spirituality brings an awareness of self in relationship to others. Engaging in the spiritual provides connectedness with divine, human, or natural other, giving a young person an opportunity to experience himself or herself in relationship to God, a community of believers. Religion intentionally offers beliefs, moral codes, and values from which a young person can build a personal belief system. Religions can offer a profound sense of connection that has great implications for self-concept.
