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Teenagers are asking the biggest questions they'll ever ask: Who am I? What am I for? The high school charism (spiritual gifts) assessment gives them a concrete, Catholic answer to start from.
The teenage years are identity-formation years. Teens are deciding what they're good at, whether they matter, and where they fit. The world hands them plenty of answers: grades, followers, team rosters, college admissions. The Church has a better one: you were given gifts of grace, on purpose, for a purpose. God has a reason for your life.
The Catechism teaches that every baptized person has at least one charism (CCC 799–801). That includes every teenager in your family or youth group. A teen who can put names to their charisms has something sturdier than a personality type or an aptitude score — they have evidence that God made them deliberately and equipped them for work only they can do.
The high school charism assessment is a version of our charism assessment built specifically for ages 14–20. Same 24 charisms, same theology — but the questions are written for a student's world: school, friendships, family, activities, and the first years of real responsibility. A teen shouldn't have to imagine having a career and a mortgage to answer questions about their gifts.
The test is $9. Parents: this works great as a conversation starter, not just a report — "which of these sounds most like you?" over dinner can get you a lot further than another "how was school?"
We're often asked for a version for middle schoolers, and we've made a deliberate choice not to build one. Kids ages 10–13 are still developing the self-reflection that a self-reported assessment depends on, so an assessment at that age wouldn't be helpful and could actually cause more harm than good. For that age group we take an observational approach instead — helping adults and peers notice and affirm the gifts they see — through Stir into Flame, our middle school curriculum, and Start the Adventure: Charisms for Kids, our book for parents and educators to accompany kids ages 5 to 14 through relational discernment.
One teen discovering their charisms is powerful. A whole youth group doing it together changes the culture of the room — suddenly ministry roles get filled by gifting instead of guilt, and students start seeing each other's gifts too.
We support youth ministry at every scale: bulk assessments for your group, Passion & Purpose: Charisms for Teens for study, and full youth ministry programs with leader resources and an administrative dashboard. Catholic schools can start with Charisms for Catholic Schools.
Twenty minutes from now, a teenager you love could have names for the gifts God gave them — and a reason to believe they're here on purpose.
The high school version is written for ages 14–20. Adults 21+ take the adult version. The assessment will auto-adapt to the age entered by the person taking the test on the demographics page. For ages 10–13 we recommend the observational approach laid out in Stir into Flame rather than an assessment.
Yes — it's built on the Church's teaching on charisms in the Catechism (CCC 799–801) and evaluates the 24 charisms most consistently recognized in Scripture and the Church's life.
Yes. It's individually accessible — a free account and $9. Plenty of teens take it on their own initiative, though the results spark better conversations when a parent, youth minister, or mentor is in the loop.
Those measure natural aptitudes and preferences. This looks at charisms — the supernatural gifts the Holy Spirit gave them at baptism for serving others. It answers "what did God equip me to do for people?" rather than "what am I like?" The great benefit to our teen version of this charism assessment is that we also include career, trade, and college major ideas that work well with every charism to get them started thinking about building a life that will work with rather than against the gifts God has given them.
Yes — bulk options and full programs with leader dashboards are available. Start with youth ministry programs or Charisms for Catholic Schools.