Religions > Bible > Spirituality May Be Hot in America, But 76 Million Adults Never Attend Church
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Religions > Bible |
| User: |
"Russ T. Nale" |
| Date: |
21 Mar 2006 08:26:20 AM |
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Spirituality May Be Hot in America, But 76 Million Adults Never Attend Church |
Spirituality May Be Hot in America, But 76 Million Adults Never Attend Church
March 20, 2006
(Ventura, CA) - Marketers devote billions of dollars to penetrating the
Baby Boomer market the generation of 77 million individuals that populate
the nation. There is another market segment equally as large that is of
interest to the faith community: the 76 million adults who regularly avoid
going to church.
A new report based on its annual tracking survey by The Barna Group
reveals that one-third of the adult population (34%) has not attended any
type of church service or activity, other than a special event such as a
funeral or wedding, during the past six months.
The Barna report described this unchurched population in relation to its
spiritual and demographic background.
The Religious Profile of the Unchurched
Citing past research that discovered most unchurched adults were formerly
churched, the new study indicates that six out of ten unchurched people
(62%) consider themselves to be Christian, 4% say they are Jewish, 4% are
associated with an eastern religion, and 24% say they are atheist.
Denominationally, the largest share of unchurched adults is made up of
lapsed Catholics: almost three out of every ten unchurched people (29%)
associate with Catholicism. One out of every five (18%) say they are
Baptist.
In the eyes of these individuals, absence from church life does not
indicate a lack of commitment to the Christian faith. Three out of four
unchurched adults who consider themselves to be Christian (77%) contend
that they are either absolutely or moderately committed to the Christian
faith.
Millions of unchurched adults engage in spiritual activity during a
typical week. For instance, nearly two-thirds (62%) pray to God, one-fifth
(20%) read from the Bible, and 5% participate in a small group that meets
in someones home for Bible study, prayer or Christian fellowship.
The aggregate numbers of the unchurched are not as clean-cut as they used
to be, however, one out of every eight unchurched adults (13%) is involved
in a house church at least once a month, with another 15% involved in a
house church less frequently. In the survey, these house church
participants stated that they had not attended a Christian church service
or event during the past six months, despite having attended numerous
house church meetings during that period.
Unchurched Possess A Variety of Beliefs
Adults disassociated with a conventional church have a wide range of
beliefs, some of which are biblical in nature. Some of the perspectives
held by half or more of the unchurched population, either strongly or
moderately, include the following: *
50% agree that the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it
teaches.
* 66% agree that their religious faith is very important in their
life today.
* 64% contend that Satan is not a living being but is just a
symbol of evil.
* 62% believe that a good person can earn eternal salvation
* 51% believe that Jesus Christ sinned while He lived on earth.
* 61% say their single, most important purpose in life is to love
God with all their heart, mind, strength and soul.
* 55% argue that they are totally committed to having a deeper
relationship with God and will do whatever it takes to get and maintain
that relationship.
* 66% say they are completely committed to making the world, and
other peoples lives, better.
The Barna Group survey noted that one out of every five unchurched adults
(21%) is born again Christians. However, only 4% of unchurched adults
possess a biblical worldview.
George Barna, who directed the study, also pointed out that a minority of
unchurched adults has a biblical view of God. In addition, less than one
out of five say that involvement in a community of faith is necessary to
become a mature and complete person. Interestingly, nearly one-quarter of
the unchurched (23%) say that a persons faith in God is meant to be
developed mainly through involvement in a local church.
Demographic Profile
As has been the pattern throughout the two decades that Barna has been
tracking religious belief and behavior in the U.S., men represent the
majority of unchurched adults (55%). However, during the past decade there
has been a significant increase in the percentage of women who avoid
church activity.
The unchurched rate is highest in the Northeast (40%) and West (43%). It
is also more common among single adults (43%) than married adults (28%).
People groups with abnormally high levels of church avoidance include
Asians (56%) and those who consider themselves to be mostly liberal on
social and political issues (51%).
Connecting With the Unchurched
Having studied the growing numbers of unchurched adults in America for
more than two decades, George Barna indicated that we are approaching one
of the two times of year when massive numbers of the unchurched alter
their pattern and attend a church service. Every year, many previously
unchurched people return to a church for one or more Easter season
services. More often than not, this is the result of one of two
motivations: the compelling invitation of a close friend who accompanies
them to the service, or a personal crisis that compels them to seek God
more fervently. Impersonal marketing efforts generally have limited impact
in persuading the unchurched to break their normal Sunday morning habits.
Barna also cited earlier research he had described in his book, Grow Your
Church From the Outside In, which showed the unchurched have a different
set of objectives when they return to a church than many church leaders
might expect. These people tend to be less turned on by the music or
preaching than by a sense of Gods presence even though they dont quite
know how to explain or understand it and by the feeling that they are
visiting a group of people who are a genuine community of loving and
accepting individuals. We found that the sermon has less to do with their
return to a church than their emotional experience with God and the people
gathered.
Research Description and Definitions
The data in this report are based on interviews with 1003 adults from
across the nation. These telephone surveys were conducted by The Barna
Group, during January 2006, based upon a random sample of people 18 years
of age and older living within the 48 continental states. The maximum
margin of sampling error associated with the aggregate sample of adults is
3.2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. In the research, the
distribution of survey respondents corresponded to the geographic
dispersion of the U.S. population. Multiple callbacks were used to
increase the probability of including a reliable distribution of qualified
individuals.
Born again Christians are defined as people who said they have made a
personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life
today and who also indicated they believe that when they die they will go
to Heaven because they had confessed their sins and had accepted Jesus
Christ as their savior. Respondents were not asked to describe themselves
as born again.
The Barna Group, Ltd. (which includes its research division, The Barna
Research Group) is a privately held, for-profit corporation that conducts
primary research, produces media resources pertaining to spiritual
development, and facilitates the healthy spiritual growth of leaders,
children, families and Christian ministries. Located in Ventura,
California, Barna has been conducting and analyzing primary research to
understand cultural trends related to values, beliefs, attitudes and
behaviors since 1984. If you would like to receive free e-mail
notification of the release of each new, weekly update on the latest
research findings from The Barna Group, you may subscribe to this free
service at the Barna website www.barna.org
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making such material available in an effort to advance understanding of
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and social justice issues, etc. I believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of
any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US
Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
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--
Russ T. Nale
http://grace.break.at
God is still speaking
http://www.stillspeaking.com
To send e-mail, remove "youhat" from address
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