Surveying American Christians

For the hearts of these people are hardened,
and their ears cannot hear,
and they have closed their eyes—so their eyes cannot see,
and their ears cannot hear,
and their hearts cannot understand,
and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.
—Jesus in Matthew 13:15 (New Living Translation)
The Barna Group's latest version of an annual study of spirituality in America is out. You can read the summary at their website here: Americans Stay Spiritually Active, But Biblical Views Wane According to the survey,

Currently two-thirds of Americans believe that God is best described as the all-powerful, all-knowing perfect creator of the universe who rules the world today (66%). However, this proportion is lower than it was a year ago (71%) and represents the lowest percentage in more than twenty years of similar surveys.

The survey also found that,

More than four out of every five Americans (83%) said they had prayed in the last week. This was followed by attending a church service (43%) and reading the Bible outside of church worship services (41%). Notably, just one-quarter of adults possess an active faith, meaning they engage in all three of these activities (pray, attend church, and read the Bible in a typical week).

The director of the study David Kinnaman, writes a fairly scathing summary of his finding saying,

Most Americans do not have strong and clear beliefs, largely because they do not possess a coherent biblical worldview. That is, they lack a consistent and holistic understanding of their faith. Millions of Americans say they are personally committed to Jesus Christ, but they believe he sinned while on earth....

In fact, one reason why beliefs fluctuate is that most Americans’ hold few convictions about their faith. For instance, even among those who disagree with orthodox views, many do so while hedging their bets. Most Americans have one foot in the biblical camp, and one foot outside it. They say they are committed, but to what? They are spiritually active, but to what end? The spiritual profile of American Christianity is not unlike a lukewarm church that the Bible warns about.

I don't doubt that the numbers accurately reflect the 1006 people they surveyed. But I thought the picture would have been less rosy. On the one hand, I think around here more than 2/3s of people would say they believe in God described as "the all-powerful, all-knowing perfect creator of the universe who rules the world today." Yet if 43% of Camden Countians were in church in the last week, that would have been more than 21,000 people in our 115 churches or 187 people on average in each church. I know some of us have that many in church, but we all don't. So knowing that we're in the Bible Belt and the survey is national, it just made me wonder.

What do you think? Do these numbers reflect people you know? Do you think that Kinnaman is right? Are American Christians more wishy washy than faithful?

And if you want to see something that'll make you feel good about what is possible? Try this video clip Religion & Ethics NewsWeekley. It's about an atheist's conversion to Christianity. The story is primarily about the food kitchen she runs in St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Fransisco where the food is served on the altar of the church. You can read the transcript and see photos or watch the portion of the PBS show on her via video.

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor

[Jesus] felt great pity for the crowds that came,
because their problems were so great
and they didn't know where to go for help.
They were like sheep without a shepherd.
—Matthew 9:36 (New Living Translation)