Revolutionary Parenting: What the Research Shows Really Works

by George Barna

The Revolution is underway, but in this new era, how can parents make a lasting impact in the spiritual lives of their children? To find the answer, George Barna researched the lives of thriving adult Christians and discovered the essential steps their parents took to shape their spiritual lives in childhood. He also learned surprising truths about which popular parenting tactics just aren't working. Revolutionary Parenting goes beyond youth group and Sunday school and shows parents how to instill in their children a vibrant commitment to Christ.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Christian, Family, Spirituality, Christianity, Christian Living

192 pages, Hardcover

First published March 6, 2007

About the author

George Barna was raised and educated on the East Coast before moving to California in the early 1980s. He held executive positions in advertising, public policy, political campaigns, and media/marketing research before beginning his own company, the Barna Research Group (now The Barna Group), in 1984. The firm analyzes American culture and creates resources and experiences designed to facilitate moral and spiritual transformation. Located in Ventura, California, The Barna Group provides primary research as well as developmental resources and analytic diagnostics. The company has served several hundred parachurch ministries and thousands of Christian churches throughout the country. It has also supplied research to for-profit corporations such as Ford Motor Company, The Walt Disney Company, Visa USA, and Prudential, and has assisted the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army as well.

To date, George Barna has written more than 40 books, predominantly in the areas of leadership, trends, spiritual development, and church health. Included among them are bestsellers such as Revolution, Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions, The Frog in the Kettle, The Power of Vision, and Pagan Christianity? Several of his books have received national awards. He has also written for numerous periodicals and has published various syndicated reports on topics related to faith and lifestyle. He also writes a bimonthly research report, The Barna Update, which is accessed by hundreds of thousands of people through his firm's Web site (www.barna.org). His work is frequently cited as an authoritative source by the media. He has been hailed as "the most quoted person in the Christian church today" and is counted among its most influential leaders. In 2009, George initiated Metaformation, a new organization designed to help people maximize their potential. More information about his current projects is available from www.georgebarna.com.

Barna is a popular speaker at ministry conferences around the world and has taught at several universities and seminaries. He has served as a pastor of a large multiethnic church, has been involved in several church plants, and currently leads an organic church. He has served on the board of directors of various organizations. After graduating summa cum laude from Boston College, Barna earned two master's degrees from Rutgers University. At Rutgers, he was awarded the Eagleton Fellowship. He also received a doctorate from Dallas Baptist University. He lives with his wife and their three daughters in Southern California. He enjoys spending time with his family, writing, reading novels, playing and listening to guitar, relaxing on the beach, visiting bookstores, and eating pizza.

Reviews

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

My husband and I read this one together.

It’s a series of parenting principles and values derived from years of research on thousands of “spiritual champions” and their parents. We found it full of insights and findings that resonated with us, and the way we would like to parent, when the time comes.

While it doesn’t give actual, practical advice what to do in certain situations, it describes certain principles and strategies (as well as attitudes) that great parents employ when raising great children. The idea is that guided by these, you then put together a parenting strategy that will best fit your child.

Definitely recommending this book to Christian parents (and not only)! And definitely coming to this book again.

[Emily Morrice · Rating 2 out of 5]

The research conducted and subsequent statistics are helpful, but reading the Rapid Review at the end of each chapter would be sufficient. The book is overly simplistic and so much filler/fluff. For a book published in 2007 and my copy was a new release (thus there's been time to update it and they haven't), it's incredibly outdated. He talks about "cutting the cable" (tv) rather than addressing social media. Really felt like it was for another time and not overly helpful today. Honestly, I don't recommend it.

[David McCormick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the scientific approach to finding out what makes parenting effective. I think it could have done a better job talking about the how, but it was a great perspective and helpful in knowing where to focus energy as a parent.

[L Frost · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a good book that I ordered my own copy to keep so I can refer to it. Barna wanted to know what were the common traits and practices of parents who raised children who became “spiritual champions.” So he did what he does best and researched. The results found in this book are based on that research which included scores of interviews with these parents and their children.

This is a short book that can be read in 1-2 days. But it also provides very tangible suggestions for how to parent your own children if your goal is for them to be passionate lifelong followers of Christ. It is a great resource for ministers, volunteers, and others who work with children, teens and parents to have a better idea of how to support and encourage them in this task.

I appreciated that the parents didn’t only tell of their successes but also described things they tried that failed.

Much of this isn’t rocket science when you think about it, but the book is an excellent reminder to continue doing things you know to do as well as surprise you with things that are important that you may not have realized. Barna himself was surprised at some of the answers, so writing the book was a growth experience for him as a researcher and as a father.

Ultimately these parents were not going to leave the spiritual development and journey of their children solely in the hands of anyone else. They took responsibility, cherished it, focused intentionally on it, and used resources including the church and people of other generations to help their children grow into spiritually mature, passionate, devoted adults.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finally forced myself to finish this one, just so I could count it towards my reading challenge. Found myself bristling through much of this book. While I appreciate what this book is trying to do, I definitely found myself questioning some of the research (the approach, the people included/not included, etc.), resisting the idea that this book was the only method that works, wondering what the real end-goal should be, and pondering some things that I thought were contradictory throughout.

[Jason Logue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unlike most parenting books, this one does not really give tutorials or processes for raising kids or how to solve specific behaviors. It's more of a review of years of data from many parents who raised "spiritual champions." Overall it was a good book and challenging on different levels. I am not sure I always agreed with his definition of spiritual champions or their choices, but I liked that he had some good data to back up the claims.

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent summary of data on actual parenting practices and outcomes, arranged thoughtfully and practically, with provocative application questions at end of each chapter. One of the best little parenting books I've read.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great overview of principles and strategies that have guided parents who have raised “spiritual champions.” When I find myself losing my way in the parenting journey, I will definitely return to this book to reorient myself to the basics of what really matters!

[Jenna Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great to have some relevant research. Visionary. Not very practical. Has a negative tone (author feels bad about his shortcomings?). Main point: we must intentionally work towards the goal of raising spiritual champions and not rely on outside structures like the church to accomplish this.

[Brenda Seefeldt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A parenting book that does not make you feel like a loser plus it has researched results so you feel that maybe something you do is possible because it is based on research and not opinion.

[Taylor Tyndall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good, comprehensive read about spiritual parenting. Glad we read this before becoming parents. Very easy read which was also nice.

[David Livingston · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best on intentional parenting for Christians who want to raise up spiritual champions.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting read! Lots of compiled data and information to think about. Many great points made!

[Keren Threlfall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Those familiar with the name George Barna will know that he is renowned within Christian circles for founding The Barna Group, a research group that focuses primarily on studying, surveying, and researching statistics within the American Christian subculture. In keeping with this, Barna’s book focuses on the researching the crucial aspects of parenting that correlate with what he calls “spiritual champions.”
Barna begins by stating that in the mass of parenting books available, he really does believe his is necessary to write and add to the pile. Indeed, this book is different than many books that focus on what parents should do in parenting, and instead focuses on what things parent did or didn’t do as they parented and what seemed to be the common factors in parenting in homes that had children who are now “spiritual champions,” which is why he believes his book to be necessary.

The book includes many statistics, but also include anecdotes and quotes from parents and teens/young adults who participated in the survey. In my opinion as a reader who wished to be more informed, it would have been helpful to have better information about the specifics of what denominations and parts of Christianity these “spiritual champions” were coming from, as well as a more precise definition of a “spiritual champion,” beyond distinguishing him/her as being actively involved in church ministry and outreach and having a walk with the Lord.

The book makes several false dichotomies, for instance the premise of the book: there are kids who turn out to be “spiritual champions,” and then there’s everyone else, and there are the parents who raise “spiritual champions,” and then there is everyone else. For the most part, Spiritual Champions is not a how-to book of parenting, but rather a broad survey of a survey. The book does end with Barna unleashing a flurry of isolated Scripture verses, interspersed with hermeneutical leaps and random parenting advice eisegeted into the lives of Old Testament heros, mingled in with a few truly Biblical exhortations for parents. I found this to be somewhat confusing, and left me slightly more disappointed with the book than if this latter segment had been left off altogether. (Some of it even conflicted with conclusions made earlier in the book.) Still, I found it an interesting book, and it does give an idea of what many presumably conservative (both politically and religiously, it would seem), Evangelical Christians are doing to expose their children to Biblical, spiritual training.

[Jeremy Manuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Revolutionary Parenting is a spin off of George Barna's book Revolution from a couple years earlier. I'm always a bit skeptical of books that try to cash in on the success of a previous work, particularly in the Christian world. While maybe not as bad as my initial skepticism would lead me to believe, I held the same mixed feelings about this work as I did about the original.

On the positive side the book gives some good ideas to chew on. I found a number of insights from his research very interesting. One that really stuck with me is that you are more likely to have faithful children the less children you have. This was interesting, particularly since their are portions of the church that really encourage the big family method of living. Due to the fact that it is George Barna, the statistical element of the book is the strongest point.

The big downside of the book is very similar to the criticism I had of Revolution and that is the language that he uses outside of the statistics is somewhat jarring to me. The idea of raising faithful children is presented as raising "spiritual champions" which is not a term that I find all that likable. It just seems like it is trying to present it as something a little overly triumphant when living a faithful life isn't necessarily always like that.

I also just felt that he tended to use a lot of cliches and Christianese that is common in many churches. This results in a lack of clarity at times and can leave his thoughts a little vague. Which in some ways is good because it allows you to use your own discernment, but you're left wondering if he had something particular in mind when he used a certain phrase.

Overall I found it an interesting book and it gave me some things to think about regarding our own children, but I would consider it an average book. It has some good things, but some things that I didn't like quite so much. If you're looking for a parenting book, you could do much worse I'm sure, but it's not without its own flaws.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

George Barna, a trusted researcher in the domain of faith and culture, conducted a national study of people whom he classified them as Spiritual Champions (the most dedicated subset of Christians) or not, and then he interviewed the adult child and the parents. Comparing Spiritual Champions to others, he found the differences in the way that they were raised that correlated to a person becoming a Spiritual Champion.

I liked that the topic was practical to my questions as a parent raising three children, that it was based on empirical research, and that it was approachable. I wish more books like this had summaries at the end of each chapter, which made this book easier to understand and review.

However, I did not notice he incorporated any past psychological research, such about religious socialization.

The briefest description of the parents of Spiritual Champions is that they have clear goals for their children, model the behavior they want, and remain actively engaged in coaching their children towards these goals. For more I suggest picking up the book.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read! Barna doesn't mince words. He says it how it is and doesn't have a lot of fluffy wasted space in this book. I suppose the premises of this book is what I am always on a quest to find...what did successful parents do while raising their children? Barna actually researched this topic - and I like research! He sought out parents who raised spiritual champions. Now I am learning (slowly) that children cannot be pigeon holed. They are all unique and will need to be parented in different, unique-to-them ways, however, the research Barna conducted was a little broader - foundational principles these family's focused on in their homes. I enjoyed this read and although some of the ideas were not new, they are ideas that should be reviewed on a regular basis in my opinion. I liked the hands-on questions at the end of each chapter. I am actually considering buying this one and making Tyler go through it with me again so we can discuss the questions together.

[Josh-danielle Venable · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book with a lot of great insight on parenting and raising children who want to serve God. If you're looking for a James Dobson, advice style book, I'm not sure that this one is for you though.

The book is written from a research perspective. It is written by George Barna after all, so that only makes sense. The basic idea of the book is that Barna interviewed parents and that were considered (assumedly by his research team) to have been successful in the raising of their children as "spiritual champions". These parents give the "formula" that they used in raising their children and Barna adds in additional thoughts and perspective at times.

Overall, I would recommend this book especially for parents who are looking to raise young people that love the Lord and go on to live for Him.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting. Not really a "I did this now you should do this" type of book. It's based on surveys and interviews of parents who raised children to become spiritual warriors and adults who grew up to become spiritual warriors. This is a book on what worked to help these children to become warriors for Christ. For instance, very few children from single-parent homes become spiritual warriors. Statistically these children come from two-parent households who view their reponsibility to raise children for God's Kingdom as the most important goal of their lives. So, I myself, statistically shouldn't be a spiritual warrior but that's where God comes in. There is always hope. I'm halfway through this audiobook. I'll keep you posted.

[barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this book is very different than any other parenting book on the market, it had a lot of valuable information for raising your child(ren) in faith. The majority of this book is research based. It is not a how-to book; instead it is a look at actual parents and their mindset while trying to raise kids in a godly manner. The basis of the research and information provided is about the way you think, act and approach conflict in terms of parenting. Though most of the book was geared towards the shaping of children 5 and up, there is a lot of useful information you can use to change your own habits and thought process when your children are younger, making patenting easier later. The premise is on godly goal setting, not specific techniques or disciplinary styles.

[Cary Sawatsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book and the Bible are the two most important books on parenting ever written (IMHO). I will dedicate much of my life's energy in trying to get as many people as possible to read and apply the teachings of "Revolutionary Parenting". The only thing negative that I have to say about the book is that it does not include the statistical data that the book is written upon. It is also the kind of book that the average parent will need to have explained to them in smaller bites to really make sense.

[Marianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was an unexpected gift from my aunt and uncle. I was excited to read it and challenged more than I could have imagined. The Lord expects a lot of me as a parent, and I pray that I see Him as I try to do just that. My goal is for my children to become spiritual champions as the book describes them. A must read! No parenting book measures up to this because this gets down to our purpose as parents as God sees it!

[Sharon Cartwright · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book. Barna identified what he called "spiritual champions," young adults who were spiritually solid and active in their local churches and communities and worked backwards to identify what their parents did right.

They emphasized the importance of having a plan with goals. It helpfed me to take a step back and see my role as a parent from the big picture perspective. The suggestions were solid, biblical and made sense to me.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is unique in approach, but not in content. It is based on Barna's research into successful parenting, which is what makes it unique. The conclusions he draws, however, are not much different than can be found in many other books. It makes a great introductory book on parenting, but is not particularly insightful for those who have already read and thought about it a great deal besides confirming conclusions one has already drawn.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book on parenting I've read yet. Doesn't tell you how to do it, but encourages you through the statistics of hundreds of Christian parents whose kids are pursuing adulthood as passionate followers of Jesus. It affirmed things I'm doing, and fired me up to start some things I'm not. Definately finished the book thinking "Stand firm" and "Press On."

[Corey Grabar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've respected Barna for a number of years and I am thrilled he's come out with such a fascinating and definitive book on parenting. Very good and helpful read. It has confirmed so much of our parenting understandings.

[Samuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great look at parenting and how to get strategic in terms of raising kids with a Godly perspective on the world around them. Great ideas and questions to get you thinking about what you're doing with your kids.

[Rebecca]

I loved this book. The information for parents is great. His idea of researching parents of adult Spiritual Champions is great. This should be in the hands of all parents, especially new parents, so they can start off right.

[Legacy Dad · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be required reading (along with the Bible) on how to successfully raise Christian children. It is a moderate view of Christian living that sometimes disproves many “beliefs” about raising spiritual champions.

[Clare Graaf · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be very helpful for parents who want to be intentional influencers of their children. Barna doesn't beat you up. He gives solid evidence for why some kids embrace Christ while other walk away.