Losing Faith

According to the "American Religious Identification Survey" of 54,000 people in 2008 (conducted by Trinity College, Hartford, Conneticut), America is gradually losing its faith.

The survey found that 15% of respondents said they had no religion, compared to 8.2% in 1990. According to the same survey, Christians make up 76% of the U.S. adult population, compared to 86% in 1990.

The survey showed an across-the-board decrease in all major Christian denominations. Roman Catholicism is claimed by 25.1 percent of the population (was 26.2% in 1990); Baptists made up 15.8% (was 19.3% in 1990); and mainline Protestant denominations — Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopalian and United Church of Christ — dropped from 18.7% in 1990 to 12.9% in 2008.

One group that did increase in relevance was “non-denominational” Christianity, which claimed just 0.1 percent of the population in 1990 and increased to more than 3.5 percent in 2008. Many of those who claimed this identity belong to “mega churches” that are known for using rock-style music and less structured services.

"There is now this shift in the non-Catholic population -- and maybe among American Christians in general -- into a sort of generic, soft evangelicalism," said Mark Silk, who directs Trinity's Program on Public Values and helped supervise the survey.

The survey substantiated several general trends already identified by sociologists: the slipping importance of denomination in America, the growing number of people who say they have "no" religion and the increase in religious minorities including Muslims, Mormons and such movements as Wicca and paganism.

The survey results are really not a surprise to those of us who have been deeply involved in church development and spend time seeking to understand our culture. I just wish there was a way to monitor more short-term developments, especially during the current economic crisis. Will more Americans seek God during difficult times, or will they pull away from him?

You can read the full article at the Washington Post.

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