Theology Thursday: The state of the church

Welcome to Theology Thursday! Theology is the study of God, his relation to the world, and our relation to him. I hope these newsletters help enhance your faith and deepen your love for God and his people, the church.

Today's question:
How is faith doing in America today?

Pastor Brady's thoughts:
Every 10 years, Pew Research Center conducts a major study called the Religious Landscape Survey, which collects data on the state of religious belief, church attendance, and other related trends in American religiosity.

If you just love this kind of thing, you can read the entire 393-page report here, but I’ll note a few of the highlights and include some brief thoughts of my own in this summary.

A mixed bag regarding the “Nones.” For most of the past 25 years or so, the fastest-increasing religious identity in the U.S. was “None.” Meaning, more and more people were indicating they had no particular religious affiliation whatsoever. According to Pew, the growth of this group has slowed considerably. That may seem like good news, especially when paired with the related responses that shows that the decline of self-identified Christians has slowed. However, Christ-followers are still behind the eight ball - for every “None” who becomes a Christian, six Christians become “Nones.” In other words, we’re losing believers at a much higher rate than we’re making disciples.

The church’s biggest challenge? Attracting and keeping young people. Not just school-age youth, either. Church attendance, religious affiliation, and spiritual practices all basically decrease from the “Silent Generation” (born before 1946) down through “Generation Alpha” (born 2010-2024). Young adulthood has always been a season of faith-drift for many, but fewer people who drifted away are returning to active faith practice in their 30s and 40s than before, creating a significant generational divide in the American church.

Nearly all church growth is non-denominational. The vast majority of increased church attendance/membership the past decade was seen in churches that are not officially associated with a denomination.

This lines up with what else we know about church growth: the statistically-impactful church growth takes place where there is also population growth. Recently, that has meant the suburbs. This makes sense. Churches grow (in numbers big enough to make a difference in statistical analysis) where there are lots of people - and money. Additionally, most church growth is seen in “mega” churches - churches with 2,000 or more people. And most mega-churches are also in the suburbs of major cities. And most mega churches are non-denominational, especially the fastest growing ones.

Denominational loyalty is a thing of the past. The term researchers use for this is “spiritual migration” - believers bounce between different denominations and church traditions at higher rates than before. In particular, church-attenders younger than 50 care less about a church’s faith tradition and denominational association than they do many other factors that go into choosing a church (location, style, “vibes).

“Spiritual but not Religious” isn’t going away. In fact, it’s surging. The popularity of a vaguely optimistic spirituality remains culturally prevalent. Hard-core, committed atheism remains relatively unpopular and unattractive for most people, but that doesn’t mean they’re gravitating toward the worldview and allegiance exclusivity Christianity demands. Rather, they’re picking from here and there to form an individualized spirituality that elevates their sense of self. The years since 2014 have seen an increased interest in things like tarot cards, horoscopes, mysticism, and “mindfulness.”

Paul knew what he was talking about with that “yoking” business. Pew's research shows that one of the most surefire ways to lower one’s religious observance, church practice, and “spiritual intensity,” is to marry someone who doesn’t share the same faith (or the same commitment to the faith in general). In other words, when a Christian marries a non-Christian, the result the majority of the time is that the non-Christian will influence the Christian away from active faith, rather than the other way around.

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? (2nd Corinthians 6:14)

Family faith is important, but becoming less so. Strong religious tradition in your family correlates to remaining affiliated in the faith of one’s youth. But 40 percent of the younger generation that grew up with strong family religious tradition attend less frequently now than before.

The most surprising church growth trend? Young men. The gender gap in the pews is narrowing between men and women. Among younger generations, there are now more men than women in church. There are some really interesting theories about why this is, but nearly all of them include something along these lines: in an age where males are regularly underperforming their female peers academically (women outpace men in test scores and graduation rates), professionally (women note higher workplace satisfaction and expected upward mobility than do men in similar fields), and socially (modern women report more and better friendships than do modern men), men - young men, especially - are often left listless.

In recent years, serious - and often necessary and valuable - examinations of masculinity have led to many men feeling unsure of who they are and where they fit in today’s society. This isn’t all bad: this data suggests that a number of these men are turning to the church to try and figure out their answers to these questions. If the church adequately provides answers for them (which is to say, faithfully and fruitfully), it might just change the world.  

TO KNOW GOD AND TO MAKE HIM KNOWN!
- Pastor Brady

Have a question for Theology Thursday? Send an email to office@minierchristian.org and we'll respond, or we'll include in a future Theology Thursday Buffet.