Barna Statistics
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 someone’s 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 people’s 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 person’s faith in God is meant to be developed mainly through involvement in a local church.
(If you would like more information, check out the link from the title or go to www.barna.org. What's posted is the first half of the article.)
posted by Greg Hazelrig @ 8:31 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Barna is sneaky about his 'biblical worldview' criteria, which he defines as interpreting Scripture literally.
Our church is having revival services this week. Tonight the speaker made a very strong case that the UMC is uniquely qualified worldwide to reach out to the unchurched. But only if we can maintain a correct balance between the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. When we lose our balance, we miss great opportunities for personal piety and for reaching out to others.
While I'm concerned about the indicators in the survey, I am forced to remember the most effective -- in terms of outreach in service -- church I ever pastored received around half its support, financial and service, from people who were not church members and made it plain to me that while they would support the church because of the ministry it carried out they would not join the congregational in an institutional sense.
It was then and remains now a mystery.
QP,
I've had very similiar situations. Actually, I do now. I believe it's normally because someone got mad a somebody else or at a whole church somewhere down the line and therefore decided that all churches as institutions are bad. The problem is that all churches are going to have there problem areas because all churches are run by us imperfect humans. So instead of trying to work within the institutional church, many simply choose to give it up altogether. They may come and worship and even participate in some things. But don't ask them to join or lead something.
Post a Comment
<< Home