A Comparison of Indoor and Outdoor Worship Experiences Among Youth and Adolescents of the Efata Kelapa Lima Congregation: Engagement and Spiritual Experience

Meys Elvelin Ponganan, Lefran Lembolangi, Juan Erwin Pohan, Theresnaria Yuliatur Situmorang

Abstract


The involvement of youth and adolescents in church worship and ministry is crucial for the sustainability of faith formation, the renewal of ministry leadership, and local church growth. This study aimed to compare the indoor and outdoor worship experiences of youth and adolescents at the Efata Kelapa Lima Congregation in Central Sulawesi and to examine the relationship of these experiences to their engagement and spiritual encounters. A quantitative paired-comparison approach was employed, involving 49 respondents. A 4-point Likert scale instrument measured indoor experiences based on comfort, focus, sermon comprehension, closeness to God, and active ministry participation; outdoor experiences were measured based on comfort, appreciation of God’s greatness through nature, worship attendance motivation, social interaction, and worship enthusiasm. Preference data served as supplementary information. Descriptive analysis revealed mean scores of 3.51 for indoor experiences and 3.40 for outdoor experiences. The Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test yielded W = 285.5, Z = -1.686, and p = 0.092 (> 0.05), with an effect size of r = 0.24. The mean score difference of 0.11 on a 1–4 scale indicates a minimal aggregate difference. These findings suggest that while the two formats produce distinct experiential characteristics, there is no evidence to claim that one is generally more effective than the other. Integrating indoor and outdoor elements could be considered a practical implication, though the effectiveness of such a hybrid model warrants further research 


Keywords


Indoor Worship, Outdoor Worship, Youth Engagement, Spiritual Experience

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.53674/pjt.v3i1.370

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