The use of spiritual formation groups to achieve maturity and insight for at risk sailors onboard a deployed Navy ship

This project tracks faith development among a group of thirty-two Navy sailors with behavioral problems that were deployed on the USS Austin (LPD-4) from July 2000 to December 2000. The literature review showed that a directed course of religious and spiritual small groups leads to increased levels of individual satisfaction with one's personal faith. The review further revealed that this model of religious development has not been applied to a great extent in the Sea Services. Over a twelve-week period of time, the use of Christ-centered worship and small group experiences, based on the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, lead to a deepened sense of satisfaction in the personal faith and commitment of the sailors who participated in the study. The measuring instrument employed to gauge faith development was the Scale of Religiosity as developed by Ellen Adler. The results and discussion of the project further amplified both the need and effectiveness of this project in institutional and Sea Service settings.