In a few days the second half of the year will begin. The most popular posts here on So What Faith so far this year (based on total number of views of posts published in 2015) are Effective Leaders Ask for Feedback, World Religions in 2050, Toward Church Renewal, From Mainline to Sideline to Oldline, and Top 10 Faith Enriching Books. Statistical Curiosities The list includes two posts from January, two from February, and one from April. Each post was tagged with a Read More …
Trends
Death of the Sermon? (#1563)
Christianity has always been growing, changing, and evolving. In recent years the rate of change has accelerated. Here in America the shift toward a less religiously affiliated population is well underway. Recent research has led many experts to speculate that it is reasonable to think the nones (those with no religious affiliation) will grow even more rapidly in the next few decades. For those who have chosen to remain a part (or who have opted to become a part) of Read More …
Cities with the Most Religious Venues (#1561)
New research by PropertyShark.com provides insight into the religious real estate found in American cities. More specifically, the findings of their research were published as a list of American cities with the most religious venues per capita. The top 10 are Indianapolis, IN Seattle, WA Jacksonville, FL Washington, DC Memphis, TN Columbus, OH Dallas, TX Charlotte, NC Houston, TX Boston, MA So What? The presence of real estate venues designated for religious Read More …
Evolving Religion is Growing Religion (#1557)
I have read hundreds of blog posts and articles reflecting on the latest edition of the Pew Research Center's U.S. Religious Landscape Study (and I even contributed one such post in the days after the data was released). Since this body of research includes so much data with significance for my field of endeavor, I have benefited from the richness and diversity of these writings. The Texas Faith Blog of the Dallas Morning News asked several faith leaders whether these findings Read More …
Millennials are #1 Overall & Mainliners #1 Growing Edge (#1556)
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, sometime this year Millennials will overtake Boomers as the largest generation in America. The Millennials are projected not only to remain the largest group for the next several decades, but also to widen the gap between their group and that of the next largest generational cohort (Boomers ranking second through 2028 then being overtaken by Xers). So What? Shortly after the Pew Research Center released the report on their latest U.S. Read More …
American Church: Dying or Thriving Or ? (#1552)
A few hours after I finished reading Greg Garrett's new book, My Church is NOT Dying: Episcopalians in the 21st Century, I encountered a recent LifeWay Research survey that included a question about how the American church is faring. More specifically, participants were asked, "Which of the following trends do you believe describes church attendance today . . . declining, stable, dying, thriving, growing, or none of these?" Declining - 55% Stable - 51% Dying - Read More …
Fewer and Fewer Christians (& Even Fewer Mainline Protestants) (#1551)
In 2007 the Pew Research Center conducted their initial U.S. Religious Landscape Study. The 2014 edition, published earlier today, shows Christianity declined by 8% in America over the last seven years (78.4% to 70.6%). Allowing for the margin of error, this means the number of Christian adults in the U.S. has shrunk by somewhere between 2.8 million and 7.8 million. Decline Impacts All Christian Traditions Mainline Protestants and Catholics top the list for Read More …
Growing Seminaries (#1547)
Nearly every regular reader of this blog is well aware that American Christianity has been in decline for many years. Given this reality one would expect that seminary enrollment would also be declining since this schooling is often required of those seeking ordination (and in traditions where such advanced degrees are not required they have long been an attractive and helpful professional credential). According to a new report from the Association of Theological Schools, more Read More …
Education Level & Declining Church Attendance (#1543)
As I read W. Bradford Wilcox's recent Acts of Faith article in the Washington Post I found myself drawn to a graph illustrating a decline in church attendance. While the decline in American church attendance in America since the mid-1970s is well documented and much discussed by lay religious folks and scholars alike, few have given any real consideration to how the rate of decline differs based on education. A few years ago I shared W. Bradford Wilcox's finding that "since the Read More …
Religion & Self-Identity (#1542)
Barna recently conducted research into what most influences the self-identity of Americans. In order, the top three influences are family, country (being American), and religious faith. Religion Matters While religion still ranks ahead of ethnic group, career, state of residence, and city/town of residence, it is a distant third to family and country. While a majority of Americans claim that family and their country are central to their identity, fewer than two out of five Read More …