“I am Catholic and have been all my life. I believe in God, the Holy Trinity and that Jesus is forgiving through confession. Being Catholic plays a really important role in my life because it allows me to turn to God in times of doubt and I have a great community at my church. I love the community of my church because everybody knows each other and we can talk about mass and pray with each other which is important to me. Connecting with other Catholics has helped me deepen my faith because I can go to church any time that I want to pray and spend time with God.”
“I am a Christian, so I believe in God and that Jesus is the son of God. My beliefs mean a lot to me, they are a part of what makes me who I am today. My family has played a big part in my beliefs, and so have strangers who spread the love of Jesus. I celebrate Christmas as the birth of Jesus and Easter as the day Jesus was resurrected.”
“I am a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but most people refer to us as Mormon. A typical day of worship for me includes going to a bible study every morning before school. On Sundays, I have church at 10:30 am where I go to one hour of sacrament meeting, which is when we take bread and water, before going to an hour of class with my age group. One thing I like to do is write down the miracles that I see everyday and this helps me continue to strengthen my beliefs.”
“I am Jewish. I celebrate all of the Jewish holidays like Chanukah, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Purim and especially Passover. To me, my beliefs are what guide my decisions and what I base my morals on since they have been shaped by my family’s history of Judaism. If I’m going to synagogue it’ll either be for a youth group on a weeknight and that makes me feel super connected to my Jewish friends and peers across the Kansas City area. I enjoy my Jewish community because it makes me feel very at home when I walk into synagogue and am greeted by people I know don’t judge me for what I believe in.”
“I identify religiously as a Muslim. My religious beliefs center around the belief in one God, Allah, and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad in the Quran. My beliefs mean a lot to me as they provide guidance for my life and a moral framework to follow. I participate in religious holidays such as Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, which mark the end of Ramadan and the annual Hajj pilgrimage. A typical day of worship includes the five daily prayers, which are spread throughout the day, along with reading and reflecting on the Quran.”
“I identify as agnostic because that’s the best term for what I believe overall, though it’s a little more complicated than that. I believe in the validity of religions all over the world and I don’t believe that one can be called more correct than any other. I believe more in my connection to the world around me. I wasn’t raised in a religious household growing up, but I have been exposed to a multitude of religions along the way, especially while I was living abroad. Those experiences, along with my own personal research of different religions, have given me an idea of what I feel is my connection to the world.”
