What do you consider to be the church's top missional priority? According to a survey conducted by Barna in 2020, Protestant pastors answers differ dramatically depending on whether or not they are affiliated with a Mainline denomination or not. The chart below summarizes those Barna findings and is one of a number of Barna surveys found in Glenn Packiam's new book, The Resilient Pastor (Baker Books, 2022). So What? As someone who works in the area of local poverty alleviation, Read More …
Barna
Most Congregations Now Offer In Person Worship (#1881)
How many Protestant congregations in America are offering one or more in person worship experiences on a given weekend? A survey of American Protestant pastors conducted July 20-22, 2020 by LifeWay Research indicates that 71% of congregations provided one or more in person worship experiences on the weekend of July 19. When COVID-19 began to impact decision making about offering an in person option the percentage of congregations doing so declined steadily from 99% in early March to just 4% by Read More …
1 in 3 Americans are De-Churched (#1493)
Churchlessness has been on the rise in American for quite some time growing from 30% during the 1990s to 33% during the 2000s before reaching 43% in 2014. These statistics appear as a part of an infographic on the first page of Churchless: Understanding Today's Unchurched and How to Connect with Them (2014) by the Barna Group with George Barna and David Kinnaman as general editors. That same graphic continues with the image at right, breaking both the churched and unchurched Read More …
Prodigal PKs? (Pastor Kids) (#1246)
David Kinnaman, president and majority owner of Barna Group, recently directed research on pastors' kids. According to the results of that survey, many children of pastors experience significant doubt regarding their faith and/or have left the church entirely. More specifically, pastors with children ages 15 or older indicated that the following accurately describes their child(ren): 7% - no longer a Christian, 33% - no longer actively involved in church, and 40% Read More …
Technology, Millennials, and Faith (#1218)
Over the last 10 years, the Barna Group has interviewed 27,140 Millennials in 206 studies. Earlier this month, they released a few infographics displaying what their research finds with regards to how technology is impacting the faith of Millennials (also known as Gen Y - generally considered as those born in the 1980s through the early 200os). One of the newly released infographics shows how Millennials are integrating technology and faith. Just how widespread the integration Read More …
Generational Church Experiences (#0642)
The Barna Group recently conducted a poll about the impact of church experiences. The results of this poll show that the size of the church attended had little or no effect on the way respondents characterized their experience, but the generation of the respondents had a considerable impact: So What? This survey included over 1,000 American adults who "have attended a Christian church sometime in the past." In general, Mosaics and Busters (groups covering those from age 18-46) scored Read More …
Shifts in American Religious Behavior (#0450)
The Barna Group recently published a list of changes in American religious behavior over the last twenty years based on data collected via their annual OmniPollSM survey conducted each January. Bible reading undertaken during the course of a typical week, other than passages read while attending church events, has declined by five percentage points (to 40%); Church volunteerism has dropped by eight percentage points (to 19% who do so during a typical week); Adult Sunday school Read More …
The Influence of Technology (#0438)
"The Family and Technology Report" is one of the Barna Group's latest publications. The report is based on research conducted in partnership with Orange, which is part of the reThink Group. "The innovative study included nationwide interviews among parents and 11- to 17-year-olds from the same households, allowing comparisons between the parents and the tweens and teenagers who reside in the same home." Recently, Church Juice's Jerod Clark discussed the study's five findings and Read More …
Giving Less (#0366)
The Barna Group's latest research suggests that the current economic crisis continues to impact how much Christians contribute to their local congregations. In short: In the immediate aftermath of the economic crisis in late 2008, two out of 10 Americans (20%) had reduced their giving to a church or religious center; three out of 10 (31%) had downsized their giving to other nonprofits. Then, 14 months later, in January of 2010, both measures had increased: three in 10 adults had reduced Read More …
Is Birmingham the Capital of American Christianity? (#0157)
An article on The Barna Group's website seems to suggest that Birmingham is the most Christian city in the United States. The article is based on 39,423 telephone interviews conducted over the last seven years and published as two reports: Markets 2011 and States 2011. Birmingham is ranked first among weekly church attendance (67%) and second in the number of people who self-identify as being Christian (96%). No other city was ranked in the top four in both Read More …