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File photo of Stuart Hall at the Princeton Theological Seminary.

(Frank Jacobs)

PRINCETON — Princeton Theological Seminary has received a $1.1 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to fund a study that will provide church leaders with strategies to help children connect with their religion, officials said.

Confirmation, a rite in many Christian faiths, will be studied in five North American Protestant denominations — United Methodist, Presbyterian, Evangelical Lutheran, Episcopal and African Methodist Episcopal.

“We want to understand how young people make decisions, how they integrate faith into their lives and how they are initiated to the church,” said Richard Osmer, professor in the Practical Theology Department at Princeton Theological Seminary and a co-director of the project, in a news release announcing the grant.

“We’ll ask questions to explore diverse practices, who participates and how long confirmation programs are.”

Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based private foundation created in 1937 by three members of the Lilly family through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, The Eli Lilly & Co.

The endowment exists to support religion, education and community development, the release said.

The Confirmation Project, called Christian Youth: Learning and Living the Faith, comes at a time when demographics in society and churches are changing, said Katherine Douglass, co-director of the project and a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary.

“The population in denominations is getting older. When youth graduate from high school and go to college, they typically stop going to church,” Douglass said.

“It used to be that people returned to the church when they got married and had children, but people are delaying marriage and having their first child later.”

The longer people spend away from the church, the less likely they are to return at all, she said.

The project is twofold, involving a survey of youth and parents about their beliefs, and research that will involve visiting churches that are using innovative, creative ways to engage children in religion, Douglass said.

Technology will be a key part of the project, she added.

“We’re hoping what we find are strategic ways to use technology that help youth stay connected to church in meaningful ways,” Douglass said.

“We want to explore how youth relationships work and what role technology plays in those relationships. We’re open-minded about what might happen, but we’re interested in what practices involve youth to be connected.”

A national study of youth and Christian religions found parents have the highest religious influence on youth, she said.

“Parents have such a powerful impact on the faith of youth, more than any minister or mentor or adult in their lives,” Douglass said.

The project’s co-directors, committee members and graduate assistants for each denomination are currently identifying congregations to participate in the study.

Research will begin this fall with site visits and a focus on storytelling about confirmation practices.

The project will conclude in December 2016.

For more information, e-mail info@theconfirmationproject.com or visit theconfirmationproject.com.

Contact Nicole Mulvaney at nmulvaney@njtimes.com.

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