TruthBook Religious News Blog

January 26, 2010

The number of Americans who are praying is increasing at the same time that more of them say they have no formal religious affiliation, according to a major polling organization.

The dynamic represents an "apparent shift in patterns of spiritual practice and identity away from the familiar institutions," Omar M. McRoberts, a University of Chicago sociologist and researcher, said in an interview.

"We are witnessing a decoupling of 'spirituality' from 'religion,'" said Mc Roberts. It is a trend echoed in other surveys and accounts of individuals calling themselves "spiritual but not religious."

"I think we can expect to see yet more novel versions of religiosity appear, in response to changes in spirituality," he said. The University of Chicago study, released October 23, was based on numerous surveys, including the General Social Survey's own study of 52,000 U.S. adults.

"While fewer people identify with a particular religion, belief in God remains high," said Tom W. Smith, coauthor of the study and director of the General Social Survey at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.

The "spiritual but unchurched" Americans are a growing force, he indicated, with the new study finding that nearly a quarter, 22 percent, have never attended a religious service. This is an increase from 9 percent in 1972. The study found that 16 percent listed "none" when asked to specify their formal religious affiliation.

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Labels: institutional religion, Omar M. McRoberts, prayer, spirituality, unchurched

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Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Megachurches push for greater spirituality

CATHY LYNN GROSSMAN
September 27, 2008

After decades of soaring growth, the phenomenon of Protestant megachurches — behemoths of belief where 2,000 to 20,000 or more people attend weekend worship — may be stalled.

And Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill., the granddaddy of "seeker-sensitive" megachurches geared to attract the spiritually curious, is on a mission to rev the engines.

On paper, megachurches look like a trend still on the rise. Their total number rose from 600 in 2000 to more than 1,250 in 2005, says sociologist Scott Thumma of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research in Hartford, Conn.

On Outreach magazine's 2008 list of the largest 100, even the smallest says more than 7,000 people attend. But some of the biggest, including Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church in Houston, with 43,500, showed slight declines.

Experts see more troubling concerns than slowing growth: no measurable inroads on overall church attendance and signs that many churchgoers are spectators, not driving toward a deeper faith.

"You can create a church that's big, but is still not transforming people. Without transformation, the Christian message is not advanced," says Ed Stetzer, head of Lifeway Research in Nashville, Tenn., which did the Outreach study.

The unchurched remain untouched. While the number of people who say they attend at least once a week hovers around 30 percent year after year, the number who say they "never" go to church climbs.

The tally of "nevers" varies from 16 percent in Gallup surveys to 22 percent in the General Social Survey, conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, to 32 percent in an Ellison Research survey this year. The new "nevers" come from the pool of people who once attended monthly or a few times a year.

Many slide away from church to find other answers to their spiritual quest or another church where the preaching or music or family programs better suit their style.

The study, now being marketed to churches nationwide as a self-assessment tool, found many who attend church are not progressing from beginner believers to become "fully centered in Christ" — deep in Bible study, prayer and service.

In response, founder and senior pastor Bill Hybels has changed his sermons to more directly challenge worshipers at every level. Willow has launched a slate of dozens of Wednesday mini-classes focusing on spiritual growth, coached and mentored by the church.

Willow is still "seeker-obsessed," says Hybels. "But today's seekers are different" than years ago.

Today, he says, "I don't think anyone is wandering around looking for a mild dose of God. They want to know: 'What would a life centered on Christ look like in my life? What would that feel like? How do I go about it?' "

Labels: Cathy Lynn Grossman, church, faith, Hartford Institute for Religion Research, megachurches, Scott Thumma, spirituality, unchurched

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Tuesday, July 22, 2008

'Unchurched' worshipping more, 'churched' less?

In a survey of more than 1,000 adults, 29% of Americans do not attend religious services at all; 10% attend only on religious holidays; 9% attend occasionally; 19% attend between one and three times a month; and 33% attend once a week or more.

By Ashly McGlone,
A new survey shows that "unchurched" Americans may be worshipping more, and "churched" Americans worshipping less, than many people might think.

Numerous surveys track trends among "unchurched" Americans, but what does "unchurched" really mean? Does it mean never attending religious services, not attending regularly, or to simply be unaffiliated with a particular congregation?

Phoenix, Ariz.-based Ellison Research said the most common definitions "often don't tell a complete story about how Americans attend religious worship services."

The Ellison survey, released July 14, showed that 40% of the "unchurched" do not entirely stay away from worship services, and 37% of "churched" Americans do not make it to religious services every week, even though they consider themselves regular attenders.

"There's often an assumption that people either do attend worship services or they don't," said Ellison President Ron Sellers. "But what we find in this study is that one out of every five Americans is attending worship services at least occasionally during the year, even though they are not regularly involved."

Definitions of "unchurched" used by leading researchers are typically based on yes/no questions of membership at a house of worship, service attendance in the last month, or attendance in the last six months apart from holidays, weddings and funerals.

The Ellison study, however, prides itself in more nuanced questions about frequency of worship attendance for churches, mosques, and synagogues.

In a survey of more than 1,000 adults, 29% of Americans do not attend religious services at all; 10% attend only on religious holidays; 9% attend occasionally; 19% attend between one and three times a month; and 33% attend once a week or more.

The study also analyzed family history of attendance and parental religious involvement. The study estimates that 43 million adults typically categorized as "unchurched" will visit a church or place of worship at some point during the year, and suggested that this should be the focus of outreach for congregations.

Labels: Ashly McGlone, Ellison Research, religion, unchurched, worship

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Saturday, January 12, 2008

Survey: 'Unchurched' Americans say church is 'full of hypocrites'

Compiled by Tribune wire services
Article Last Updated: 01/11/2008

Almost three-quarters of Americans who haven't darkened the door of a church in the past six months think it is ''full of hypocrites,'' and even more of them consider Christianity to be more about organized religion than about loving God and people, according to a new survey.

Almost half those surveyed - 44 percent - agreed that ''Christians get on my nerves.''

But the survey of ''unchurched'' Americans by LifeWay Research also found that some 78 percent said they would be willing to listen to someone who wanted to tell them about his or her Christian beliefs. Researchers, affiliated with the Southern Baptists' LifeWay Christian Resources, defined ''unchurched'' as Christians who haven't attended church in six months as well as non-Christians such as Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists.

The findings echoed a previous study by The Barna Group that found the vast majority of young non-Christians view Christianity as anti-gay, judgmental and hypocritical.

The study was based on an overall sample of 1,402 adults who were interviewed by phone in 2007, including 900 ages 18-29 and 502 age 30 and older. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

- Religion News Service

Labels: Buddhists, Christian, Hindus, hypocracy, Jews, LifeWay Research, Muslims, unchurched