Monday, December 27, 2004
A third of Kentucky's adults are unchurched
Although churches routinely are packed for Christmas services, a new survey commissioned by the Kentucky Baptist Convention shows that about one in three Kentucky adults are "unchurched." That's nearly 1 million people with no meaningful connection to any of the thousands of churches in a state in the heart of the Bible Belt.
The California-based Barna Research Group, which conducted the survey in October, defines the "unchurched" as those who have not attended services once in a six-month period except for special occasions.
The survey says an additional 650,000 Kentucky adults, or 21 percent of the population, don't view themselves as committed to the church they attend.
Barna, a prominent Christian research firm, based its data on a telephone survey of 2,175 people and more extensive interviews with those who identified themselves as unchurched. The margin of error was plus or minus two percentage points.
The unchurched in the study included atheists and followers of non-Christian religions, but the vast majority considered themselves Christians.
"Most of the unchurched are not opposed to faith, or even to Christ. ... But they have tried Christianity and found it wanting," the report states.
The Barna Research Group says the number of unchurched American adults has nearly doubled to 75 million since 1991. The rate of unchurched Kentuckians equals the national rate of one-third, the Barna report said. But where 54 percent of unchurched Americans say they are Christians, that figure is 82 percent among unchurched Kentuckians.
The Rev. Bill Hammer, associate pastor at the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Assumption in Louisville, said he wasn't surprised by the survey numbers, noting that many people identify themselves as Catholic but don't associate with any parish.
"In the archdiocese, we do encourage parishes to engage in outreach ... trying to take the faith to people who are not connected in any way," he said.
And Hammer said he often finds himself apologizing to people who have been offended by a member of the clergy.
Several who recently gathered at Heine Bros. said they are turned off by churches that preach that homosexuality is sinful and that only Christians are going to heaven.
"My division from religion came when I could not sit in catechism and believe that little kids in Africa were condemned" for not being Christians, said Ruth Fister of Louisville.
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