"Before they reach their teenage years, children have pretty much developed their lifelong behaviors and views," says social researcher George Barna (barna.org).

He says that in most cases, people's spiritual beliefs are "irrevocably formed" when in the pre-teen years -- and that 80% of adult church leaders today say they had "serious involvement" in church life and training before they turned 13.

"In essence, what you believe by the time you are 13 is what you will die believing," Barna says. While he does not discount belief-altering, life-changing experiences among individuals beyond that age, he claims his research indicates that "most people's minds are made up and they
believe they know what they need to know spiritually" by the time they become an official teenager.

Barna documents his findings in his book, Transforming Your Children Into Spiritual Champions.

According to Barna, spiritual transformation needs to begin early in life -- and that's where parents play a vital role, he says.

"In situations where children became mature Christians, we usually found a symbiotic partnership between their parents and their church," he says.

The church encouraged parents to make spiritual development a high priority, and parents raised their children in the security, spiritual and moral education, and accountability of a faith-based community.

"Neither the parents nor the church could have done it alone," Barna says.

"The most important resource, we believe, was the amazing amount of prayer for children and parents that was evident at the most effective
ministries to children," he says.