Sound The Trumpet : Churchless - Five Trends Contributing to a Churchless Nation

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“Churchless - Five Trends Contributing to a Churchless Nation”
by Prophecy News Watch
November 14th, 2014

The Barna Group has identified five trends that are contributing to the increase in the churchless of America. The research discovered real and significant shifts in unchurched attitudes, assumptions, allegiances and behaviors.

Since 1990, the percentage of unchurched adults in America has risen from 30% to 43% of the population.

This new study of the unchurched population comes in conjunction with the release of Churchless, a new book from veteran researchers George Barna and David Kinnaman. Churchless draws on more than two decades of tracking research and more than 20 nationwide studies of the unchurched.

The research reveals the big picture: Today’s unchurched are much less likely to come from a church background than ever before. Furthermore, unchurched people today have different expectations of church involvement from those of previous decades. These changes are the result of shifting personal attitudes as well as significant changes in the broader cultural landscape:

1. Secularization Is on the Rise

Nearly two-fifths of the nation’s adult population (38%) now qualifies as post-Christian. In other words, more than one-third of America’s adults are essentially secular in belief and practice.

As expected, the research shows some striking generational differences when it comes to secularization: The younger the generation, the more post-Christian it is. Nearly half of Millennials (48%) qualify as post-Christian compared to two-fifths of Gen X-ers (40%), one-third of Boomers (35%) and one-quarter of Elders (28%).

2. People Are Less Open to the Idea of Church

The unchurched are becoming less responsive to churches’ efforts to connect with them. Twenty years ago, two-thirds of churchless Americans (65%) were open to being invited to church by a friend. Today, that percentage has slipped to less than half (47%).

While churchless people continue to show moderate openness to high-touch, relational connections—pastoral home visits (27%, down from 34%), a phone call from a church (24%, down from 34%)—they are resistant to other forms of outreach. This is especially true for advertising, including TV, radio or newspaper (18%, down from 20%), direct mailings (16%, down from 24%) and billboard ads (14%, down from 21%).

3. Churchgoing Is No Longer Mainstream

Churchgoing is slowly but incontrovertibly losing its role as a normative part of American life. In 1993 85% of all US adults attended church. Currently, only 76% of adults attend church.

4. There Are Different Expectations of Church Involvement

In the early 1990s nearly seven out of 10 adults, if they were to visit a church, would be most interested in attending the Sunday service. Now, only 57% of churchless adults say they would be interested in Sunday worship as their starting point.

5. There Is Skepticism about Churches’ Contributions to Society

When the unchurched were asked to describe what they believe are the positive and negative contributions of Christianity in America:
- almost half (49%) could not identify a single favorable impact of the Christian community
- while nearly two-fifths (37%) were unable to identify a negative impact

Of those who could identify one way Christians contribute to the common good, the unchurched appreciate their influence when it comes to serving the poor and disadvantaged (22%), bolstering morals and values (10%) and helping people believe in God (8%).

Among those who had a complaint about Christians in society, the unchurched were least favorably disposed toward violence in the name of Christ (18%), the church’s stand against gay marriage (15%), sexual abuse scandals (13%) and involvement in politics (10%).

There is a debate happening about how much the country is secular versus faith-oriented and whether this changes as people get older. The research findings reminds observers that most Americans remain connected in some way with Christianity. Yet, the influence of post-Christian trends is likely to increase and is a significant factor among today’s youngest Americans.

The challenge for the church on this issue would be how to generate the new levels of courage and clarity required to effectively connect beyond the “Christianized” majority.

Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13