Examining Social Solidarity among Generation Z Christian Students in Bandung, West Java, and Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara amid the Covid-19 Pandemic: Exploring Educational Challenges within Religious Institutions

Abstract

This article is the based on the research of solidarity on generation Z Christian students in Bandung, West Java, and Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara. The research involved 349 male and female students from Christian and public schools. This research utilized Lindenberg’s theory of solidarity and tailored accordingly to the context of the respondents. The research method employed quantitative descriptive method. Total forty questions were answered by the respondents. Thirty questions are on solidarity and ten questions on religiosity. The aim of this research to figure out the factors that influence the solidarity among generation Z Christian students and its challenge for education in schools and churches. The data was processed by using SPSS statistic software, chi-square test and contingency table or cross tabulation analysis of all variables. The result of the research demonstrates that the background of the respondents did not have correlation with solidarity, but solidarity did have correlation with religiosity, school, ethnicity, and church. The result disclosed challenges for the schools to design a curriculum of solidarity to be taught in all levels of education, and also the church to develop a theology and the teaching of solidarity in all categories of fellowship to maintain the church’s role as the light of the world for the goodness of society.

Keywords: Social Solidarity, Generation Z, Bandung, Kupang, Christian School, Church, Education, Christian Students.