






























Ecclesial Futures
2025 – Volume 6 – Issue 1

91
Ecclesial Futures – DOI: 10.54195/ef23525

B O O K  R E V I E W

DOI: 10.54195/ef23525

Smith, Jennifer R. 2023. A Thematic Analysis 
of Religious Identity and Volunteer Motivation 
among Emerging Adult Members of The Church 
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Mississippi State University, IN: Institutional Repository1

Grell, Daniel. 2023. Pursuing Jesus Christ Until 
We Meet Him Face-To-Face: A Biblical and 
Theological Challenge to Retired Baby Boomers 
to Become Transformed Disciples of Jesus 
Christ Who Faithfully Serve Him in the Context 
of Their Local Church

Pro-Quest ID: 304862952

Reviewed by Johannes Fröh

Volunteers are the backbone of church life, simultaneously deepening their own 
spiritual formation while serving their congregation and community. However, in 
most Western countries, volunteer rates have been steadily declining for the past 
half-century and are likely to continue doing so as average household working hours 
increase. This challenge to the church’s future is addressed in the recently published 
dissertations of Jennifer R. Smith and Daniel Grell. Their research focuses on the 
volunteering potential and motivation of two underexplored age cohorts in the 
church: emerging adults (Smith), before their time becomes predominantly occupied 

1 Available at: https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/td/5979/
2 Available at: https://www.proquest.com/docview/2808449826?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=

true&sourcetype=Dissertations%20&%20Theses

https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/td/5979/
https://www.proquest.com/docview/2808449826?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true&sourcetype=Dissertations & Theses
https://www.proquest.com/docview/2808449826?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true&sourcetype=Dissertations & Theses


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by the job market, and Baby Boomers (Grell), as they transition into retirement over 
the next decade.

Jennifer R. Smith is an adjunct professor of Family Life and Human Development 
at Southern Utah University (SUU). While earning her advanced degrees from Missis-
sippi State University, she contributed to several studies exploring the intersection 
of family relationships, religion and aging. Her academic expertise is complemented 
by her firsthand experience as a religious volunteer. As an active member of The 
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), she teaches Primary, Young Women 
and Relief Society – church programmes for women across different age groups. 
Additionally, Smith’s perspective has been shaped by her exposure to different 
cultural environments. She grew up in Southern Utah but spent nearly a decade 
living in Kentucky and Mississippi, providing her with valuable insight into varying 
societal dynamics. The combination of her academic research, religious volunteer 
work and cross-cultural experiences led her to identify the central issue of her 
dissertation: volunteering among emerging adults has largely been overlooked in 
church contexts, particularly in relation to the cultural factors that influence engage-
ment. Smith’s research aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the rela-
tionship between religious identity and volunteer motivation among emerging adult 
members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. More specifically, she 
explores how religious identity shapes personal identity development and how it 
affects both the volunteering experience and the motivation to serve. Her findings 
offer practical insights into improving church volunteer recruitment and retention.

Daniel Grell is the Executive Director of VOCM-America, a mission organization 
focused on church planting in Southern India. His current role follows five decades of 
pastoral service in the Evangelical Free Church, where he ministered in various loca-
tions across the United States – including Yuba City, California; Conover, Wisconsin; 
Austin, Texas; Boone, Iowa; and Illinois – as well as internationally in Austria, 
Germany and England. After retiring in 2018, Grell served as an adjunct professor at 
Moody Bible Institute in Chicago for four years before assuming his current position 
at VOCM-America. As a retired Baby Boomer who has remained actively involved in 
church service, he is keenly aware of the ongoing decline in church volunteerism. 
This awareness led him to his central research question: What would motivate Baby 
Boomers, upon reaching retirement, to continue serving Jesus Christ through their local 
church? His project seeks to explore this issue in depth and provide practical solu-
tions for both Baby Boomers and church leaders.

Both dissertations follow the traditional structure of empirical research projects. 
They begin with an introductory chapter that provides a concise overview of the 
study – well suited for informing church leadership about the key perspectives and 
most significant findings. This is followed by sections covering the theoretical foun-
dation, chosen methodology, analysis of results and a discussion of those results. 



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Despite their shared structure and common focus on church volunteering, the two 
dissertations offer complementary perspectives, particularly in the context they 
provide. Just as their focus on the beginning and end of the working adult population 
forms a natural complement, their insights together create a more comprehensive 
understanding of volunteer engagement across different life stages.

Smith’s literature review (Chapter II) begins by addressing the decline in volunteer 
rates. From this starting point, she defines the conceptual framework of volunteering, 
summarizes current research on volunteer motivation and introduces self-determi-
nation theory as the study’s guiding research framework. She then examines prior 
studies on religious volunteers, using the topic of religion as a bridge to the specific 
research context of the LDS Church. Next, Smith introduces the concept of identity, 
setting the stage for the missing pieces of the theoretical foundation. She estab-
lishes a strong temporal perspective on identity formation by focusing on Erikson’s 
well-known lifespan development model and its adaptation by Marcia. After further 
contextualizing this model through the lenses of cultural and religious identity, she 
narrows her focus to the life stage of emerging adulthood. With all key concepts now 
defined, Smith integrates them into a holistic framework that connects emerging 
adulthood with religion, culture, church membership, and volunteering.

Grell, by contrast, takes a significantly different approach. Like Smith, he begins 
by addressing the decline in volunteer rates among his target age cohort. However, 
rather than defining sociological core concepts related to this issue, he lays a bibli-
cal-theological foundation that examines its root causes (Chapter 2). He identifies 
four key factors contributing to Baby Boomers disengaging from Christlike service:
1. He contrasts disengagement theory with a biblical analysis of aging and retire-

ment, concluding that God’s view of seniors challenges disengagement theory.
2. He argues that while God has a special calling for seniors, many fail to recognize 

it.
3. This lack of understanding is shaped by cultural influences that conflict with the 

theological concept of lifelong discipleship, a perspective he primarily explores 
through Wilkin’s discipleship model.

4. Fully embracing discipleship, in turn, leads to spiritual transformation, as 
described in Romans 12.2 and Matthew 16.24.

After establishing this biblical-theological foundation, Grell shifts to a review of empir-
ical research on Baby Boomers’ perspectives on these issues (Chapter 3). He exam-
ines theories of aging – contrasting chronological and agency-based approaches – as 
well as discussions on retirement, vocation, volunteerism, church life and spiritual 
formation. In each case, he evaluates these topics against the theological framework 
he previously outlined.



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In their respective methodology chapters – Smith (Chapter III) and Grell 
(Chapter  IV) – both researchers take a fairly similar approach to their topic. They 
employ a qualitative research methodology, conducting semi-structured interviews 
that align with their overall goal of exploring motivational factors in depth for their 
respective age cohorts. For data analysis, Smith uses thematic analysis, while Grell 
adopts a phenomenological approach with thematic clustering. To ensure transpar-
ency and rigor in their analytical perspectives, both researchers supplement their 
methodology with a section on self-reflexivity and positionality in their data inter-
pretation.

Both dissertations proceed with the analysis and presentation of results. For 
Smith, this is by far the most extensive chapter of her work (Chapter IV), structured 
into five sections, each corresponding to one of her research questions. The first 
section examines key experiences that shaped participants’ views on volunteering. 
Emerging themes include:
1. Family influence and role models.
2. Feelings of comfort, guidance, or peace in church settings, often rooted in child-

hood.
3. A phase of careful reexamination of the belief system they were raised with.
4. A personal decision to follow church teachings.
5. The experience of community within the congregation.
6. Volunteering role models in church leadership.

The second section explores the connection between church membership and 
self-perception. Smith finds that participants overwhelmingly see themselves as chil-
dren of God, a belief that profoundly influences their sense of purpose, confidence, 
belonging, happiness and self-worth. She concludes that their understanding of 
God’s plan and their relationship with him serves as the foundation for their self-per-
ception. The third section focuses on prior volunteering experiences, revealing that 
participants engaged in a broad range of volunteer activities from early youth through 
college, spanning both secular and church-related initiatives. The fourth section 
analyzes the data through the lens of self-determination theory (SDT). Contrary to 
prior research, Smith finds it striking that while participants reported experiences 
reflecting all three psychological needs related to service participation and motiva-
tion, relatedness was the most frequently mentioned, cited by all 24 participants. The 
final section examines the influence of religious identity on volunteering behavior. 
Smith identifies three primary motivators for volunteering:
1. A desire to follow Christ’s example.
2. The belief that all people are children of God.
3. Adherence to specific scriptural teachings on service.



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Smith concludes her dissertation with a brief discussion of the results (Chapter V), 
mirroring the structure of her literature review by integrating various theoretical 
perspectives into a cohesive understanding of emerging adults’ volunteer moti-
vation. She then outlines practical implications for both church leadership and 
nonprofit organizations seeking to improve volunteer recruitment and retention.

Unlike Smith, Grell’s presentation of results (Chapter V) is comparatively brief, yet 
it remains concise and insightful. He structures his findings into two main sections. 
In the first section, Grell presents the results of his semi-structured interviews with 
retired Baby Boomers, focusing on their perspectives on church volunteering. Based 
on his data, he concludes that the primary post-retirement goals for Baby Boomers 
serious about pursuing discipleship to Christ include:
1. Ending well and serving God for the remainder of their lives.
2. Having a meaningful influence on their families and others.
3. Fulfilling God’s unique calling for them.
4. Sharing what God has done in their lives, for them, and through them.

These findings suggest that professionals working with Christian Baby Boomers 
should recognize their strong interest in spiritual growth and development through 
volunteering. Grell further notes that his interviewees view discipleship – understood 
as a personal relationship with Jesus – as an ongoing journey. This includes intention-
ally dedicating more time after retirement to spiritual disciplines, such as prayer and 
Scripture reading, while also identifying areas of personal struggle and surrendering 
them to Christ. However, Grell identifies two key barriers to Baby Boomer engage-
ment in church service:
1. A reluctance to step outside their comfort zones.
2. A perception that their contributions are no longer valued by the congregation, 

which discourages them from taking on new or challenging roles.

In the second section, Grell shares insights from five additional semi-structured inter-
views with church staff who work with Baby Boomer volunteers. Their responses 
echo the Baby Boomers’ strong commitment to Scripture and acknowledge their 
ability to offer wisdom shaped by a lifetime of experience. However, church staff also 
highlight key challenges in managing Baby Boomer volunteers, including:
 – A tendency toward comfort and routine.
 – eclining physical health.
 – The need for transparent communication about evolving church culture to 

prevent feelings of disconnect.

Grell concludes his analysis with an overview of further remarks from church staff 
on how to support Baby Boomers in their spiritual transformation, encourage their 



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service within the church, address the effects of retirement, and explore mentoring 
as a potential avenue for engagement.

Like Smith, Grell synthesizes the various aspects of his in-depth analysis to 
form a holistic understanding of what motivates Baby Boomers to continue volun-
teering after retirement. After summarizing his findings at the end of Chapter V, he 
concludes his dissertation with a final chapter (Chapter VI), offering a brief project 
summary and practical implications for church leadership and staff working with 
Baby Boomers.

Overall, both dissertations address an increasingly critical issue for church lead-
ership and management, focusing on two key age cohorts – one transitioning into 
full-time work and the other concluding their careers and entering retirement. Both 
researchers provide a thoughtful reflection on their own connection to their research 
context, offering transparency regarding their positionality while leveraging their 
unique contextual knowledge for in-depth qualitative analysis.

Smith’s work excels in its nuanced exploration of emerging adults, grounded in 
the research frameworks she establishes in her literature review. These frameworks 
allow her to rigorously analyse her data from multiple perspectives, revealing the 
complex interplay between religious convictions, biographical experiences, cultural 
influences and interactions with the LDS Church. Additionally, her deep familiarity 
with LDS teachings enables her to skillfully analyse the religious connotations in her 
participants’ responses, highlighting the central role their belief system plays in their 
motivation to volunteer. However, a notable weakness of her study is the somewhat 
associative application of the self-determination theory (SDT) framework. After only 
briefly introducing the theoretical perspective, neither her interview questions nor 
her analytical process fully engage with the abstract meta-concepts of SDT in a way 
that meets the necessary level of rigour.

Grell’s study stands out for its practical applicability to church leadership. One 
of its key strengths is the solid and extensive biblical-theological foundation he 
establishes, offering a Scripture-based, multifaceted perspective on aging and disci-
pleship. His work is particularly well-suited for church teaching preparation, as it 
presents theological insights in an accessible and applicable manner. Another major 
strength is his inclusion of interviews with church staff, which not only contextualizes 
the perspectives of Baby Boomer participants but also provides valuable insights 
into the challenges of leading this generation within a church setting. However, 
Grell’s study is less rigorous in its engagement with existing research and theoret-
ical frameworks. His biblical-theological foundation lacks engagement with exeget-
ical and systematic theological scholarship, and his methodological approach is 
not presented with the same depth and clarity as Smith’s. This limits the study’s 
academic integration and theoretical robustness.



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Overall, despite their respective weaknesses, I recommend both dissertations. 
Smith’s work is valuable for both church practitioners and academics. Not only does it 
offer important insights into her target age cohort, but it also provides a strong theo-
retical foundation that invites further academic inquiry into an SDT-based perspec-
tive on emerging adults’ motivation – potentially even challenging the framework 
itself. Grell’s work, on the other hand, is particularly useful for church practitioners 
from non-liberal theological backgrounds. His pastoral intent, shaped by decades of 
experience, is compelling throughout the text, and he offers solid, practical recom-
mendations for engaging Baby Boomers in church service.

About the Reviewer
Johannes Fröh, Research Associate, University of Bonn, Germany. Contact: johannes.
froeh@uni-bonn.de

mailto:johannes.froeh@uni-bonn.de
mailto:johannes.froeh@uni-bonn.de

	Reviewed by Johannes Fröh
	Grell, Daniel. 2023. Pursuing Jesus Christ Until We Meet Him Face-To-Face: A Biblical and Theological Challenge to Retired Baby Boomers to Become Transformed Disciples of Jesus Christ Who Faithfully Serve Him in the Context of Their Local Church
	Smith, Jennifer R. 2023. A Thematic Analysis of Religious Identity and Volunteer Motivation among Emerging Adult Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

