Last week the Pew Research Center released findings from their recent survey examining religious affiliations, beliefs and practices in 18 countries and one U.S. territory (Puerto Rico) across Latin America and the Caribbean. While this region of the world is home to over 400 million Catholics (nearly 40% of the global total) and despite the popularity of the first Latin American Pope, affiliation with Catholicism is declining rapidly. Dramatic Decline From the 1900s through the Read More …
Protestant
Shifts in Religious Affiliation (1972-2012) (#1464)
The changing role of religion in American culture is a popular topic of conversation among religious leaders. Those leaders situated within Mainline Protestantism (a tradition I claim as my own) are talking more openly than ever before about decline. Even the names used to describe the tradition increasingly recognize that the decline is both about diminishing numbers of adherents (Oldline) and a more marginalized role (Sideline). While I am encouraged by increased attention Read More …
Who REALLY Attends Church? (#1429)
Over the last 10 days I have seen at least a few dozen different articles or blog posts talking about the gap between who says they attend church and who actually attends. The sudden focus on the topic is a result of a survey by the Public Religion Research Institute, which was release on May 17. More specifically, the latest inquiry finds that people are more honest about the topic when asked in an anonymous online survey than when asked by phone. Interestingly, three Read More …
Latinos Leaving Catholicism (#1417)
The longstanding cultural expectation that Latinos are overwhelmingly Catholic is shifting. New data from Pew Research finds that "a majority (55%) of the nation’s estimated 35.4 million Latino adults – or about 19.6 million Latinos – identify as Catholic today." To put this in perspective, one must understand that the percentage of Latinos self-identifying as Catholic has been declining for two decades, and the rate of decline is accelerating. Over the last four years alone, Read More …
Progressive Identity (#1377)
Many people think of the United Church of Christ as a progressive Protestant denomination. Since it is a congregational tradition, it is important to note that this tradition features congregations and members with views all across the theological continuum. Individual congregations that claim progressive as a core part of their identity should be intentional in communicating that message. Recently I encountered an exemplary example of how to tell the progressive story well on Read More …
US Megachurches (#1277)
Warren Bird, research director at Leadership Network, recently shared some incredible statistics about megachurches (those congregations with an average weekly worship attendance of at least 2,000) in the United States. 5 million - the number of people who worship at a megachurch during a typical week. 1,650 - the current number of megachurches in the United States. 0.5% - While almost 10% of Protestant churchgoers attend a megachurch, these churches represent only about Read More …
Hispanic Americans Leaving Catholicism (#1261)
I often hear that the Catholic church in America will remain a power for years to come primarily because of Hispanics. The assumption that Hispanic Americans are and will remain Catholic is one that is challenged by recent data from the Public Religion Research Institute. Current Affiliation A majority of Hispanics identify as Catholic (53%), one-quarter (25%) identify as Protestant—nearly evenly divided between evangelical Protestant (13%) and mainline Protestant (12%)—and 12% of Read More …
Church Size & Growth Potential (#1242)
The Fall 2013 edition of Facts and Trends contains a graphic (p.4) from Leadership Network showing that Protestant megachurches are four times more likely to be growing than are all Protestant churches (79% compared to 20%). So What? This statistic is one of many that highlight the reality that America's largest Protestant churches are among the healthiest of all churches when it comes to growth. Since most congregations are smaller in size, the 20% number must be something that Read More …
WHCB: Denominations (#1188)
Christian Piatt includes denominations on his list of five things that are holding Christianity back. He suggests that with so many denominations the "distinction from others like them are so minute that even the members within a given denomination can’t tell you what makes them unique." Additionally, he argues that "with the trend toward personal and local autonomy taking hold in many Christian communities, there is increasingly less of a reason to keep such hierarchic Read More …
Who Volunteers Most? (#1076)
While religious people tend to volunteer more than non-religious, a new study finds that one factor makes more difference than any other in determining who volunteers the most: type of high school attended. Jonathan Hill and Kevin den Dulk's research, published last month in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, "shows that graduates of Protestant high schools out-volunteer peers from Catholic, secular, public, and home schools—all Read More …