PRESS KIT:
Rooting Your Teen in the Faith
Rooting Your Teen in the Faith
A Field Guide for Catholic Parents
While Catholic teens drifting away from the Faith is increasingly common, it’s not inevitable. We as parents are uniquely qualified to lead our teens to a relationship with Christ. During the difficult teenage years, youth ministers, teachers, and effective parish programs are pivotal, but parents are the single most powerful factor in our children’s faith development.
In Rooting Your Teen in the Faith, family coach, catechist, author, and mom Kim Cameron-Smith empowers parents to shepherd their teens, guiding them to discover their mission, deepen their faith, and discern the truth about their identity and purpose.
There is no perfect blueprint for evangelizing teenagers, but there is the right relationship: the parent-child bond. If we lean into our call to lead, inspire, free, and transform our children, by the end of the teenage years, they will be equipped to respond to God’s movements in their lives.
Author Biography
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Kim Cameron-Smith explores the intersection between Catholicism and parenting at Intentional Catholic Parenting and the Gentle Catholic Parenting Podcast. She holds a B.A. from Wellesley College, an M.Phil. from Oxford University, a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard University, and a J.D. from U.C. Berkeley. Kim lives in Northern California with her husband and four children.
LONG BIO
Kim Cameron-Smith is the founder of the Intentional Catholic Parenting online ministry and the host of the Gentle Catholic Parenting Podcast, where she explores the intersection between Catholicism and the science of parenting Her understanding of what it means to be an intentional Catholic parent continually grows and evolves as she learns more about her children, herself, and how God has created us to find him in all things, especially relationships. Kim received a B.A. in English from Wellesley College, an M.Phil. in Medieval Literature from Oxford University, a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard University, and a J.D. from U.C. Berkeley. She is a trusts and estates attorney in Northern California, where she lives with her husband and four children. You can find her at kimcameronsmith.com.
Interview Questions for Rooting Your Teen in the Faith (2023)
- The general topic of your book – teen faith – is on the minds of many Church leaders. What do you think is causing our young people to lose their faith at such an alarming rate?
- Your book is organized around the acronym L.I.F.T. Explain L.I.F.T. for our listeners.
- In your book, you share that you left the Church as an older teen and you returned to the Church later in graduate school. You point out that some people say it was the path you needed to take, but you disagree. Can you explain?
- A foundational message in your book is that parents – not parish leaders or teachers – are the most critical factor in passing on the Faith to teens. Why is this so surprising – and perhaps scary – to parents?
- Some parents feel they shouldn’t require their teenagers to attend Mass or to participate in family faith activities if they are not interested because they want to let their teenager make their own decisions in matters of faith. What do you think about this?
- How is raising a teen different from raising younger children when it comes to faith development? What should parents do differently as their kids move into their teen years?
- One of the social changes that you discuss in your book as contributing to teens losing their faith is the rise of peer orientation. What is peer orientation and what should our listeners know about it?
- What has been your biggest challenge in raising your own teenagers?
Pull Quotes
- “Despite our imperfections, every parent has what it takes to raise a teenager whose faith grows robust and resilient, with deep roots, capable of surviving storms beyond the protection and safety of home.” -Kim Cameron-Smith
- “Until they are old enough and spiritually mature enough to plant a stake in the Faith — to own it — our children and teens need us and other safe adults to meet their attachment needs, because in meeting those needs, we are creating a model for them of what God is like.” -Kim Cameron-Smith
- “There is no perfect blueprint for evangelizing teenagers, but there is the right relationship: the parent-child bond.” -Kim Cameron-Smith
Praise for the Book
“This very intelligent book, the fruit of the author’s experience of leaving and coming back to the Church as a young person, will greatly help parents in their God-given role.”
“Kim zeroes in on the real issues that parents should be thinking about as they navigate the teen years: how to maintain a relationship of trust between teens and parents and equip teens to take ownership of their faith. This book will give you the confidence you need to be a spiritual mentor to your teen.”