The Barna Research Group, Ltd. is an independent marketing research company located in southern California. Since 1984, it has been studying cultural trends related to values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. If you would like to receive regular e-mailings of a brief overview of each new bi-weekly update on the latest research findings from the Barna Research Group, you may subscribe to this free service at the Barna Research web site (www.barna.org).

All of the interviews were conducted from the Barna Research Group telephone interviewing facility. Households were selected randomly through a random-digit dialing procedure (RDD), and the household screened for the presence of one or more teenagers. In homes with a teen, only one teenager was interviewed. Quotas were also deployed to ensure accurate regional distribution and minor statistical weighting was used to ensure that the sample reflects national demographic norms. Multiple callbacks were used to increase the probability of selecting a representative sample of households and teenagers.

Definitions

“Born again Christians” were defined in these surveys as people

who said they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today and
who also indicated they believe that when they die they will go to Heaven because they had confessed their sins and had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior (out of 7 options with regard to life after death).

Respondents were not asked to describe themselves as “born again.”

“Evangelicals” are a subset of born again Christians in Barna surveys. In addition to meeting the born again criteria, evangelicals also meet seven other conditions. Those include:

saying the Bible is accurate in all that it teaches;
saying their faith is very important in their life today;
believing they have a personal responsibility to share their religious beliefs about Christ with non-Christians;
believing that Satan exists;
believing that eternal salvation is possible only through grace, not works;
believing that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and
describing God as the all-knowing, all-powerful, perfect deity who created the universe and still rules it today.

Being classified as an evangelical has no relationship to church attendance or the denominational affiliation of the church they attend. Respondents were not asked to describe themselves as “evangelical.”

“Non-evangelical born again Christians” are those adults who are born again, based on the definition above, but do not meet all of the evangelical criteria as described.

Baby Busters were born from 1965-1983. Baby Boomers were born from 1946-1964. Builders were born from 1927-1945. Mosaics were born from 1984-2002.

“Notional” Christians are defined as individuals who consider themselves to be Christian but either do not have a “personal commitment to Jesus Christ” or do not believe that they will experience eternal favor with God based solely on His grace and mercy. Consequently they do not fit the “evangelical” or “born again” classifications.

“Unchurched” people were those who had not attended a church service, other than a special event such as a holiday service or a special event like a wedding or funeral, during the past six months.

“Theolographics” refers to the spiritual practices, beliefs and self-identification of individuals.

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Only Half Of Protestant Pastors Have A Biblical Worldview (040112)

In his recently released book and a subsequent research report on worldviews, author and researcher George Barna made waves by citing statistics showing just 9% of all born again adults and just 7% of Protestants possess a biblical worldview. That information pricked people’s curiosity regarding the worldviews of the nation’s religious leaders, prompting Barna Research to conduct a national survey on that topic among Protestant pastors. The numbers are now in – and the outcome may again shock many people.

Based on interviews with 601 Senior Pastors nationwide, representing a random cross-section of Protestant churches, Barna reports that only half of the country’s Protestant pastors – 51% - have a biblical worldview. Defining such a worldview as believing that absolute moral truth exists, that it is based upon the Bible, and having a biblical view on six core beliefs (the accuracy of biblical teaching, the sinless nature of Jesus, the literal existence of Satan, the omnipotence and omniscience of God, salvation by grace alone, and the personal responsibility to evangelize), the researcher produced data showing that there are significant variations by denominational affiliation and other demographics.

“The most important point,” Barna argued, “is that you can’t give people what you don’t have. The low percentage of Christians who have a biblical worldview is a direct reflection of the fact that half of our primary religious teachers and leaders do not have one. In some denominations, the vast majority of clergy do not have a biblical worldview, and it shows up clearly in the data related to the theological views and moral choices of people who attend those churches.”

Denominational Distinctions

The survey of pastors included ministers from more than four-dozen denominations, each of which was represented in proportion to the number of churches it has in the U.S. That enabled the researchers to analyze the responses of seven denominational segments more closely. There is considerable variation in the worldviews held.

An example of the gap among churches is reflected in the outcomes related to the nation’s two largest denominations, the Southern Baptist Convention and the United Methodist Church. (Of the nation’s 320,000 Protestant churches, more than 42,000 of them are Southern Baptist and more than 35,000 are United Methodist; these two denominations alone account for roughly one-quarter of all Protestant churches in the U.S.) The Southern Baptists had the highest percentage of pastors with a biblical worldview (71%) while the Methodists were lowest among the seven segments evaluated (27%).

Among the other segments examined, 57% of the pastors of Baptist churches (other than Southern Baptist) had a biblical worldview, as did 51% of non-denominational Protestant pastors, 44% of pastors of charismatic or Pentecostal churches, 35% of pastors of black churches, and 28% of those leading mainline congregations.

Demographic Differences

The survey brought to light some unexpected differences based on pastoral background. The most intriguing of those relates to theological training. Educationally, the pastors least likely to have a biblical worldview are those who are seminary graduates (45%). In contrast, three out of five pastors who have not attended seminary operate with a biblical worldview (59%).

The largest gap related to gender. Whereas 53% of male pastors have a biblical worldview, the same can be said for just 15% of female pastors. Overall, just 6% of all Protestant Senior Pastors are women.

Another huge gap was based on race. White Senior Pastors were nearly twice as likely as black Senior Pastors to have a biblical worldview: 55% versus 30%, respectively.

Age and experience entered the picture. The youngest pastors in the nation (those under age 40) are more likely to have a biblical worldview than are their older peers (56% versus 50%). Similarly, pastors who have five years or less experience in leading churches have a higher rate of biblical worldview possession (58%) than do other pastors.

Even geography is related to worldview. Fewer than half of all Senior Pastors in the Northeast (43%) and Midwest (49%) have a biblical worldview, compared to majorities in the South (57%) and West (58%). In fact, of the nine geographic divisions defined by the Census Bureau, the one with the highest proportion of pastors giving evidence of a biblical worldview was the Pacific division – California, Oregon and Washington. Although the people in those states are among the most liberal in the nation, nearly two-thirds of Protestant pastors there (64%) have such a moral and spiritual compass in place.

A Worldview Is Taught As Well As Caught

Referring to the multi-year research project that formed the foundation of his recent book on the subject of worldview development (Think Like Jesus), Barna suggested that people do not get a biblical worldview simply by regularly attending church. “A biblical worldview must be both taught and caught – that is, it has to be explained and modeled. Clearly, there are huge segments of the Christian body that are missing the benefit of such a comprehensive and consistent expression of biblical truth.

“The research also points out that even in churches where the pastor has a biblical worldview,” he continued, “most of the congregants do not. More than six out of every seven congregants in the typical church do not share the biblical worldview of their pastor even when he or she has one. This intimates that merely preaching good sermons and offering helpful programs does not enable most believers to develop a practical and scriptural theological base to shape their life. Our research among people who have a biblical worldview shows that it is a long-term process that requires a lot of purposeful activity: teaching, prayer, conversation, accountability, and so forth. Based on our correlations of worldview and moral behavior, we can confidently argue that if the 51% of pastors who have a biblical worldview were to strategically and relentlessly assist their congregants in adopting such a way of interpreting and responding to life, the impact on our churches, families and society at-large would be enormous.”

Research Source and Methodology

The data described above are from telephone interviews with a nationwide random sample of 601 Senior Pastors of Protestant churches conducted in November and December 2003. The maximum margin of sampling error associated with that sample is ±4.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. In addition, telephone surveys were conducted with a national random sample of 2033 adults during September through November 2003. The maximum margin of sampling error associated with that sample is ±2.2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

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Most Churches Did Not Answer The Phone (040126)

Many churches gear up for outreach-oriented ministry during the holiday season. Thousands of churches offer seasonal musical or theatrical events, most churches have special holiday services, and a concerted effort is made to attract and welcome visitors.

But a new research study indicates that most Protestant churches have overlooked one important matter: nobody is covering the phones!

Based on attempted telephone contact with 3400 Protestant churches randomly selected from across the nation during December, the study by the Barna Research Group, of Ventura, California, reveals that a human being could not be reached at 55% of the nation’s churches. Overall, one out of every five Protestant churches (19%) had neither a person nor an answering machine responding to calls; the phone simply rang without any response in each of the five separate attempts. One out of every six churches (16%) had an answering machine responding to all five attempts. One out of every five churches (20%) had either an answering machine or no answer at all during the initial five attempts. (In the study, every church sampled was called a minimum of five times during business hours, with one call made each day at different times of the day over the course of a two-week period.)

Distinctions by Denomination

Some types of churches were more responsive to incoming calls than were others. The most responsive groups among those measured were United Methodist (64% provided a human response), National Baptist (62%) and Southern Baptist churches (61%). Mainline churches, as a group, were also highly responsive: 63% had a person answering the phones during the initial five call attempts. (Mainline churches include American Baptist, United Church of Christ, Episcopal, Evangelical Lutheran, United Methodist and Presbyterian Church U.S.A. congregations.)

The churches that were least likely to provide human contact were Baptist churches other than Southern Baptist or National Baptist (no person ever answered the phone after five attempts at 65% of those churches), Holiness churches (62% non-human response), Church of God in Christ (56%), and the Christian/Church of Christ congregations (56% non-response). (The Holiness group of churches includes those associated with the Nazarene, Christian & Missionary Alliance, Church of God – Anderson, Wesleyan, and Free Methodist denominations.)

Churches most likely to have neither a human response nor an answering machine were the Holiness group (30%), COGIC congregations (27%) and Baptist churches other than Southern and National Baptist (24%).

Regional Differences

Surprisingly, the research also indicated that there were huge differences in church accessibility by geographic region. The most reachable churches were those in the Mountain and western states; two-thirds of the Protestant churches in that area (65%) provided a response by a human being within the first five call attempts. The toughest area in which to make personal contact was the South. Only one-third of the churches in the southern states (36%) had a personal response to a call within the first five contact attempts. About half of the churches in the Midwest (49%) and in the Northeast (52%) offered a live response to incoming calls.

Reflections On the Data

These statistics suggest that much of the hard work that churches put into reaching people during the holiday season may be negated by people’s inability to establish contact with someone at the church within a reasonable time frame. George Barna, who directed the study, encouraged people to capture the big picture provided these data rather than to focus on the denominational or regional differences.

“Instant communication has become second-nature in our world,” noted Barna. “With cell phones, instant messaging, and other high tech means of facilitating immediate contact with others, organizations that seemingly defy people to penetrate their fortress quickly become an after-thought in people’s lives. Busy schedules, competitiveness and questions about the user-friendly quotient of churches make it increasingly unlikely that consumers – especially those who are not connected or only marginally associated with a church – will endure the frustration of difficult communication to pursue a church. If ministry is based on relationships and interaction, then many churches might find it easier to penetrate the community if they were more accessible to the people who are showing an interest in the church.”

Research Methodology

The data described above are from telephone interviews with a nationwide random sample of 3400 Protestant churches conducted in December 2003. The maximum margin of sampling error associated with the aggregate sample is ±2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. The sampling error for the denominational and regional subgroups varies from +2.4 percentage points to +9.7 points at the 95% significance interval. Up to five calls were made to each church, each on a different day and at different times within normal business hours.

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A New Generation of Pastors Places its Stamp on Ministry (040217)

Following the Baby Boomers has not always been easy for the Baby Bust generation. Busters (currently ages 20 to 38) have typically lived in the shadow of Boomers. But, according to a new study from the Barna Research Group, there are reasons to pay attention to the perspectives and practices of Busters who are currently serving as Senior Pastors of Protestant churches.

For one thing, Busters’ presence in the lead pastor role is – pardon the expression – booming! The number of Busters who serve as senior pastors has doubled in just two years from about 22,000 to more than 45,000 (out of 324,000 Protestant senior pastors). Even more significant is their courage and creativity in charting new courses for the churches they lead. They are experimenting with communication methods, ministry priorities, education, and many other aspects of their church-based work.

The Barna study highlighted five ways young pastors are beginning to shape their church’s ministry differently than was done by preceding generations of clergy.

1. Young pastors are experimenting with approaches to effective communication.

In a world where image is king and attention spans are declining, the research shows that young pastors are more likely to experiment with new approaches to teaching and preaching. Compared with older pastors, Buster pastors are more likely to use drama (32% to 21%); more likely to show movies, videos, and DVDs (30% to 21%); and more likely to tell stories (28% to 13%). The study also indicated that young pastors more frequently use art, music, and interactive dialogue as part of their efforts to communicate biblical truths. These multi-media and experience-laden forms of communication appeal to younger, often postmodern people, who tend to reject external sources of authority in favor of relying on their own experiences and feelings to interpret reality.

Consequently, many of these young pastors also focus not just on communication techniques, but also on the communication environment. Some of these leaders even tinker with the lighting, with the look and feel of the room, with the seating, and with relational interaction to create a setting that better facilitates their efforts to communicate.

2. Young pastors’ perspectives about their churches and their ministry skills are different than their predecessors.

Another area in which young pastors seem to differ from older pastors is in how they describe their churches. Young pastors are more likely than Boomers to describe their churches as seeker-driven (45% to 33%) and as theologically conservative (93% to 80%), while less likely to depict their churches as fundamentalist (33% to 40%).

Young pastors are also more likely than their predecessors to say that their primary skill in ministry is leadership, administration, or management (18% of Buster pastors identified one of these skills, compared to 12% of Boomer pastors and 5% of Builder pastors). They also gave themselves above-average marks for motivating people around a vision, which is an activity closely related to leadership ability.

On the other hand, these young leaders gave themselves comparatively poor ratings when it came to pastoring, shepherding, and counseling. Both Boomer and Buster pastors described themselves as particularly ineffective at fundraising and at evangelism.

3. Young pastors are less likely to pursue traditional seminary education.

Despite their self-identified characterization as “theologically conservative,” Buster pastors are not taking the conventional path of ministry education. Less than half of Buster pastors (46%) currently have a seminary degree, compared to two-thirds of Boomers (62%). Part of this gap stems from the fact that some pastors obtain their seminary degree later in life.

However, many young pastors are avoiding seminary due to their growing skepticism about its necessity and relevance to their ministry. Past studies have also shown that a growing number of large churches are training congregants for full-time ministry from within, rather than sending people off-campus for more traditional academic training for ministry. Many of those church-trained leaders apprentice within the mother church, then are sent off-campus to plant a church. By staying within the nurturing framework and support system of the mother church, the nascent leader has no compelling reason to attend a seminary.

4. Young pastors are more attuned than are older pastors to the cultural battle for the hearts and minds of young people.

Another mark of Buster pastors is their heightened sensitivity to the cultural bombardment facing kids and teens today. The research showed that young pastors were significantly more likely to affirm that children are being influenced by magazines, by their peers, by television (including special mention for MTV), and by the political domain. In comparison, Boomers and Builder pastors were more likely than were Buster leaders to believe the church has significant influence in the lives of children and youth.

5. The ministry priorities of young pastors have shifted from those of their predecessors.

Perhaps because of their increased sensitivity to media influence, Buster pastors (46%) are more likely than are Boomer pastors (30%) to prioritize ministry to families, youth, and children. The study showed that Buster pastors are also focusing more attention than do their predecessors on spiritual growth, discipleship, and Bible study (37% to 27%).

However, many of the ministry priorities of Buster pastors are quite similar to those of the Boomers: both groups are equally likely to prioritize teaching and preaching, evangelism, and worship.

Out With the Old?

David Kinnaman, Vice President of Barna Research and director of the study of young pastors, commented on the findings. “Young pastors are basically cutting and pasting from fresh ideas as well as from established wisdom to form a new, era-appropriate portrait of church leadership. A handful of the young leaders are making huge changes in their ministry approaches when compared to older pastors, but most Buster pastors are simply tinkering with the style – not the substance – of ministry.”

Kinnaman noted that Buster pastors have embraced some new practices related to worship: for instance, they are less likely to use choirs or organs, and more likely to use a turn-and-greet portion of the worship service. However, few Buster pastors have implemented much change in relation to music style. Only one in four Buster pastors offers contemporary music, while most use traditional or blended worship, which is similar to the proportion of Boomer-led congregations using those styles. Kinnaman explained, “Many young pastors seem to struggle to find balance in worship and music. They admit they do not always see eye to eye with their worship leader. And their expectations about what facilitates true worship – and even how to assess whether true worship has occurred – seems to be in a state of flux. The bottomline is that young pastors have to identify God’s unique vision for their church’s worship and music, rather than trying to cater to people’s preferences or their church’s traditions.”

“Another challenge facing Buster pastors is the fact that even as they work to cover the basics, many may be allowing other important priorities to slip. Young pastors are actually less likely than average to say their church prioritizes community, missions, service, social action, or prayer. Surprisingly, the ‘missing’ priorities of young pastors are some of the exact elements to which members of the young generations (Busters and Mosaics) gravitate.” Kinnaman observed that “without increased emphasis on these areas, many churches – even those led by young pastors – will find it very difficult to appeal to young people who deeply desire relational authenticity, service to the poor and disadvantaged, globally minded activity, and spiritual depth through prayer.”

Research Methodology

The data described in this report are based on a national sample of 3,005 Senior Pastors of Protestant churches conducted in 2001 through 2003. The maximum margin of sampling error associated with that sample is ±1.8 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. The study included 338 Buster pastors, which has a maximum sampling error of ±5.8 percentage points.

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Religious Activity Increasing in the West (040301)

(Ventura, CA) From year to year it is difficult to notice much change in people’s religious behavior. But a new nationwide survey completed by The Barna Group, a research firm in Ventura, California, indicates that there have been some significant shifts in religious behavior during the past decade – and especially in the western states.

National Numbers

The Barna Group has been conducting an annual tracking survey of the nation’s religious behavior for two decades. This year’s study, completed in mid-February, shows that there was no change over the past decade in four of the behaviors measured, but significant change related to three behaviors.

One change discovered related to Bible reading, which climbed to 44% of adults reading from the Bible during the past week (other than while at church), up from 37% in 1994 and 36% in 1999. Bible reading jumped most noticeably among Protestants (up from 47% in 1994 to 59% in 2004) and residents of the west coast states (California, Oregon, and Washington – rising from 29% a decade ago to 44% today).

Another shift was in participation in small groups that meet during the week for the purpose of prayer, Bible study or spiritual fellowship, excluding Sunday school or other church classes. In 1994, just 12% of adults engaged in such a meeting during the previous week; currently, 20% of adults do so. The biggest increase was evident among men (a 100% leap, to 18% of all men); people 58 or older (more than double, from 14% to 29%); Protestants (increasing from 17% to 28%); and residents of the West (up from 11% to 26%).

The final area of growth concerned prayer. While Barna studies did not track personal prayer in 1994, the 1999 statistic was 77%, compared to the current measurement of 83% who prayed to God during the past week. The biggest increases in prayer activity were seen among residents of the Northeast (71% in 1999, 80% in 2004) and those who call themselves atheist or agnostic (doubled from 20% in 1999 to 39% in 2004).

The religious behaviors that have remained flat over the past decade include church attendance (42% in 1994, 43% in 2004); volunteering to help a church (25% in 1994, 24% in 2004); attending adult Sunday school classes (21% in 1994 and 2004); and sharing one’s faith in Jesus Christ with non-believers (58% in 1999, 55% in 2004 – a behavior measured only among born again Christians).

The research report indicated that despite the unchanged percentage of worship attenders during the past decade, the continued population growth in the United States has ushered in a flood of additional worshipers. Census data suggest that the national population has grown by nearly 30 million people in the last ten years. After accounting for the proportion who are children, churches have reaped the benefit of an additional 22 million adults who are available to attend services, with an estimated 9 million showing up in church on a given Sunday in 2004, thanks to the continued growth of the U.S. population.

Religious Behavior, 1994-2004

(Source: The Barna Group, Ventura, CA)

	1994	1999	2004
BEHAVIOR IN THE LAST WEEK	-	-
read the Bible, other than at church	37%	36%	44%
attended a church service	42	41	43
volunteered at church	25	24	24
prayed to God, other than at church	na	77	83
attended adult Sunday school class	21	19	21
participated in a small group	12	18	20
explained religious beliefs to a non-Christian*	na	58	55
sample size	1205	1002	1014

Some Groups Are Changing

Several demographic groups have undergone considerable change in their religious habits over the past decade. Most notable, as indicated, are residents of the western states. Those adults have shown statistically significant shifts in Bible reading (up 52% since 1994); church attendance (24% rise in the past decade); and participation in a small group (136% jump in ten years). In contrast, adults living in the Northeast have shown the least change across the eight factors tracked. Significant gains were also found regarding Bible reading in the Midwest (up 21%); church attendance in the Midwest (21% rise); and small group involvement in the Midwest (64% growth).

Substantial change was also registered among people 58 and older. During the past decade, as that group has aged they have become more involved in reading the Bible (up 17%); attending Sunday school (up 33%); and small group participation (up 107%).

Protestants have also been notably more likely than Catholics to pick up the pace of their spiritual activity. The biggest activity gains for Protestants came in the areas of Bible reading (23% gain) and small group participation (65% growth). Catholics showed small gains in areas such as Bible reading, church attendance, prayer and small groups, but their increases were dwarfed by those registered among Protestants.

Men gave evidence of the most inconsistent religious behavior, growing in a few areas while declining in others. For instance, while men showed increases in Bible reading (up 15% since 1994), church attendance (10%), and small group involvement (100%), they were less active now than five years ago in sharing their faith in Christ (down 14%). There was no change in either their volunteerism or Sunday school attendance.

Behavioral Patterns Are Evident

Looking at the overall patterns, women are consistently more likely than men to engage in religious behavior. Women had higher participation numbers related to Bible reading (49% versus 38%, respectively); church attendance (47% vs. 39%); church volunteerism (28% vs. 21%); Sunday school attendance (25% vs. 18%); and small group participation (21% vs. 18%).

Similarly, generational differences are readily apparent. Virtually across-the-board, older adults were more heavily involved than Baby Boomers, who in turn were more involved than Baby Busters. The only behavior for which there was an increase in Buster involvement over the past decade was Bible reading (up from 28% in 1994 to 37% this year).

Protestants and Catholics had equivalent levels of church attendance and prayer, but Protestants were more heavily involved in each of the other five behaviors examined.

Ethnic and racial background also reflected a regular pattern, with blacks more heavily involved than whites, who in turn were more likely to engage in a given religious behavior than were Hispanics. The survey also pointed out that while the percentage of Hispanics who are Catholic continues to decline, a plurality still consider themselves to be Catholic (46%), compared to 33% who claim to be Protestant.

Regionally, the South remains the area most heavily associated with religious activities. Residents of the South were the most likely to participate in five of the seven endeavors studied, the exceptions being participation in small groups and evangelism (both of which were championed by western residents). In general, people from the Midwest and West were less likely than Southerners but more likely than people in the Northeast to engage in a given religious behavior.

Is This the Start of A Spiritual Revival?

The geography of behavioral change led the study director, George Barna, to raise an intriguing possibility. “If you study how behavioral trends evolve in America, they usually start in the west, take hold in the northeast, then infiltrate the interior of the nation. The fact that we are witnessing slow but steady development of more traditional religious behavior in the western states raises the possibility that over the coming decade we will see commitment to such behavior take root in the heartland, as well.”

Barna also mentioned additional data that will soon be released from the survey. “Looking ahead at some of the other findings now being analyzed from our annual tracking survey, we find that in spite of increased religious behavior on several fronts, there is no concurrent rise in the percentage of adults who have embraced Jesus Christ as their savior – that is, no parallel rise in the proportion who are ‘born again.’ Churches face an imposing challenge: to not allow people to substitute religious busyness for genuine spiritual transformation.”

One interesting facet related to the behaviors growing in popularity, according to Barna, was their non-church nature. “Notice that the growth activities – Bible reading, prayer, small groups – are those that do not take place at a church. The church-oriented endeavors – attending services, volunteering in church programs, Sunday school participation – showed no movement. This may be an early warning sign that we are entering a new era of spiritual experience – one that is more tribal or individualized than congregational in nature.”

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Religious Beliefs Remain Constant But Subgroups Are Quite Different (040319)

(Ventura, CA) Americans apparently establish a system of beliefs early in life and hold on to them for life. That’s one of the conclusions supported by the latest annual tracking survey from The Barna Group regarding the religious beliefs of Americans. Upon examining a dozen belief factors measured annually over a ten-year period, Barna’s research indicates that surprisingly few people have altered their spiritual perspectives during the past decade.

The study also revealed, however, huge differences in beliefs across various demographic and religious subsets of the national population.

What Adults Believe

The survey examined a dozen religious beliefs that have been tracked by The Barna Group for two decades. Here are some of the key findings:

·Nearly nine out of ten adults (87%) claim that their religious faith is very important in their life today. Three out of four adults strongly affirm that idea.

·Overall, roughly three-quarters of all adults (77%) are associated with the Christian faith. One out of eight (12%) are atheist or agnostic, while the remaining 11% are aligned with some other faith group.

·Americans possess many views about God. About seven out of ten (69%) believe that God is the “all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the universe who still rules that world today.”

·Six out of ten adults (60%) believe the Bible is “totally accurate in all of its teachings.” However, less than half (44%) strongly agree with that notion.

·Six out of ten adults also contend that Satan does not exist but is merely a “symbol of evil.” Only one-quarter of all adults (24%) strongly reject the idea that the Devil is only symbolic.

·Slightly more than half of all adults (55%) say that a good person can earn a place in Heaven. Only one-fourth of the population (28%) strongly disagrees with the concept of salvation by good deeds.

·Half of all adults (52%) agree that they have a personal responsibility to share their religious beliefs with other people. Only one-third (35%) firmly believes in that responsibility.

·Among those individuals who are associated with the Christian faith, only half (50%) rate themselves as being “absolutely committed” to the Christian faith.

·Just less than half of the country (44%) believes that Jesus Christ committed sins during His time on earth. Forty-eight percent disagree with this contention. Two out of every five adults (39%) strongly oppose this idea.

When compared to data from a decade earlier, there have been few changes in these factors. Since 1995 there has been an increase in the percentage of adults who say they have a personal responsibility for sharing their faith with others (up from 48% to 52%, while the proportion who reject that responsibility has dropped from 50% to 44%). There has been no other statistically significant change in these factors.

Beliefs Have Remained Consistent Since 1995

(Percent who “agree strongly” or “agree somewhat” with the statement)

(Source: Barna Research Group, OmniPollTM, conducted each January, sample sizes of 1000-1205 per survey)

	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
BELIEF STATEMENT	-	-
the Bible is totally accurate in all of its teachings	63%	58%	58%	58%	56%	60%	60%	62%	62%	60%
you, personally, have a responsibility to tell other people your religious beliefs	48	48	46	47	44	48	51	51	53	52
your religious faith is very important in your life	87	85	87	83	83	85	84	83	84	87
the devil, or Satan, is not a living being but is a symbol of evil	58	60	62	61	59	58	58	61	67	60
if a person is generally good, or does enough good things for others during their life, they will earn a place in Heaven	57	54	52	56	52	51	51	54	56	55
when He lived on earth, Jesus Christ was human and committed sins, like other people	42	42	40	43	42	39	43	44	44	44

Evangelicals, Born Again and Notional Christians

One of the tracking measures used by Barna relates to the percentage of people who fit into one of three categories: evangelical Christians, non-evangelical born again Christians, and notional Christians.

Evangelical Christians are a subset of the born again Christian population, meaning that they say they have made a personal commitment to Christ that is important in their life today and believe they will experience eternal salvation because they have confessed their sins and accepted Christ as their savior. (The term “evangelical” is not used in Barna surveys; people do not self-identify as “evangelical.”) In addition to meeting the born again criteria, evangelicals also meet seven other conditions. Those include saying their faith is very important in their life today; contending that they have a personal responsibility to share their religious beliefs about Christ with non-Christians; stating that Satan exists; maintaining that eternal salvation is possible only through grace, not works; asserting that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; saying that the Bible is totally accurate in all it teaches; and describing God as the all-knowing, all-powerful, perfect deity who created the universe and still rules it today. In the survey, being categorized as “evangelical” was not dependent upon any church or denominational affiliation or involvement.

The survey discovered that evangelical Christians constitute just 7% of the adult population, which is statistically equivalent to the 6% measured in 1995.

Non-evangelical born again adults have made a personal commitment to Christ that is important in their life today and believe they will experience eternal salvation because they have confessed their sins and accepted Christ as their savior. (The term “born again” was not used in Barna surveys; people did not self-identify as “born again” and being categorized as “born again” was not dependent upon any church or denominational affiliation or involvement.) Born again adults do not, however, possess the other theological views of evangelicals. This size of the group has remained unchanged from a decade ago: 31% today, compared to 30% in 1995.

The aggregate born again population – that is, the evangelicals plus the non-evangelical born again niche – represents 38% of the total adult population. That is equivalent to the proportion measured a decade ago.

Notional Christian are neither evangelical nor born again, but are affiliated with a Christian church. This group is the majority of those who are labeled “Christian,” representing 39% of the adult population. This segment, too, is roughly the same proportion of the adult population as was the case ten years ago.

The Born Again and Evangelical Segments Have Been No-Growth Groups for A Decade

(Percent who “agree strongly” or “agree somewhat” with the statement)

(Source: Barna Research Group, OmniPollTM, conducted each January, sample sizes of 1000-1205 per survey)

	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
All born again adults	36%	39%	43%	39%	40%	41%	41%	40%	38%	38%
Evangelical adults	6	8	7	6	7	8	7	5	6	7
Atheist or agnostic	9	12	9	11	8	7	9	13	11	12

Demographic Patterns Show Differences

Upon evaluating more than four-dozen different demographic segments in the adult population, the survey revealed several dramatic patterns.

For instance, across all of the beliefs examined, those who held perspectives most closely aligned with the Bible were evangelicals, born agains, Republicans and Protestants. The groups whose views were least likely to correspond to biblical teaching were residents of the Northeast, Asians, Catholics and those who are registered to vote but do not have a party affiliation (i.e., Independents).

Age patterns were evident as well. The youngest adult generation – the Baby Busters – was generally less comfortable with biblical beliefs than were older adults. Most surprising, in fact, is that Busters were 18% less likely than their elders to claim that their religious faith is very important in their life. Busters, the group presently between the ages of 20 and 38, were also twice as likely as adults from the Boomer, Builder and Seniors generations to describe themselves as atheist or agnostic.

The major racial segments of the population hold divergent faith views on many of these factors. Blacks were consistently the group that was most likely to hold views that correspond to biblical teaching, while Asians were the group least likely to do so. Among the largest gaps were those concerning the accuracy of the Bible (two-thirds of blacks strongly affirmed the Bible’s accuracy, compared to less than half among the other three racial groups), views of God (eight out of ten blacks held an orthodox view, compared to two-thirds of whites and Hispanics and just half of Asians), and the holiness of Jesus Christ (maintained by half of black adults but just one-third of the other racial groups).

The study also noted that women were, on average, some 23% more likely than men to hold positions consistent with biblical teaching.

The theological gap between Protestants and Catholics was unmistakable. The average gap between the two groups on the core measures was 22-percentage points. For example, Protestants were twice as likely to strongly affirm the accuracy of the Bible (61% - 31%), a personal responsibility to share their religious beliefs with others (47% - 22%), the holiness of Christ while He was on earth (52% - 26%), and the existence of Satan (31% - 14%). Protestants were five times more likely to strongly reject the idea of salvation by works (41% vs. 8%) and they were three times more likely to be born again (58% vs. 21%).

Implications Given The Changing Ethnicity of America

Using Census data to build projections, Barna also described the likely contours of America’s faith in 2050. The Census Bureau expects the national population to balloon from the current 293 million people to nearly 420 million in 2050. Its projections show that the white population will drop from 69.4% of the population to 50.1%; blacks will increase from 12.7% to 14.6%; Hispanics will rise from 13% to 24.4%; and Asians will jump from 3.8% to 8%.

Using its own tracking figures and the Census projections, Barna then provided some rough estimates of the proportion of the born again population each ethnic group will comprise in 2050 compared to its share today. Hispanics will double in market share, from 10% today to 19.9% in 2050. Asians will also double their relative presence in the born again constituency, going from 1.3% to 2.7%. Blacks will rise more gradually, going from the current 15.2% to about 18.6%. The big loser in share will be white born again adults who are expected to plummet from 72.9% of the born again pie to just 55.6% in 2050.

Observations About Beliefs

George Barna, whose company has been conducting this research for more than twenty years, commented, “The consistency of people’s religious beliefs over time is a tribute to the fact that beliefs are formed when people are young and maintained for the duration of life. Recent studies we have conducted show that the beliefs a person holds at age 13 vary little during their adult years. The most effective way to influence such beliefs is by teaching people when they are young and still in a spiritually formative stage. Our studies find little impact from preaching, adult Sunday school and adult small groups upon the beliefs of adults.”

Barna also responded to questions about the changing ethnicity of the Church. “If the projections by us and the Census Bureau hold true, the total number of born again adults will not only increase by about 20% by mid-century, but the nature of that segment will be radically reshaped. The three largest ethnic communities will gain 15 points while the white population will give up 17 points. That’s a huge swing and will result in massive transitions in the national faith arena. A new group of spiritual leaders will emerge, different language and communication styles will be embraced, the emphasis in facilities and construction will change, church planting will move in a different direction that that which dominates the scene today, the funding of global missions will be affected, and the community outreach efforts of Protestant churches will be quite different. Even the Christian media will be greatly impacted by the transition in the born again make-up. Of course, should there be any type of significant spiritual awakening in this country before then, those changes become even more apparent.”

Asked to correlate the current data with his recently released figures on the upswing in religious behavior in the western states, the California-based researcher stated that the same pattern was not evident. “People’s religious behavior changes more frequently than does their belief set. Westerners are more active in religious practices today than they have been in the past, but they still possess the same unorthodox blend of biblical and non-biblical views that have fostered the confusing and inconsistent theological contexts that permeate the West. We found no evidence of significant changes in the beliefs of people in the western states.”

Barna, whose most recent books have focused on the development of spiritual beliefs – Think Like Jesus and Transforming Children Into Spiritual Champions – also noted that only a minority of people hold intense beliefs. “Less than half of the public is strongly convinced of the position they hold on most of the core spiritual perspectives we evaluate. For instance, although three out of five adults say they believe the Bible is totally accurate in the principles it teaches, only two out of every five strongly hold that view. This is significant,” he continued, “because views that are not held firmly have less influence on a person’s thinking and behavior. If you examine the intensity of people’s religious beliefs, the clear pattern is that there is not much that Americans believe with unshakable confidence. Most beliefs are loosely held – they are guesses more than convictions – which explains why such beliefs do not seem to have much impact on people’s choices.”

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Giving to Churches Rose Substantially in 2003 (040413)

(Ventura, CA) One sure-fire indicator that the national economy is on the path to recovery is found in new survey data showing that Americans donated significantly more money to non-profit organizations in 2003 than they did in 2002. A new report from The Barna Group shows that giving to churches and to non-profit organizations of all types jumped in the past twelve months, with the average dollars donated to churches hitting the highest level since 2000.

The study also found that the percentage of adults who tithed to a church remained unchanged, but there are sizeable differences in the proportion of people who tithe according to various demographic and theolographic characteristics.

Giving to All Non-Profits, Including Churches

Overall, 80% of all households donated some money to at least one non-profit organization during 2003. That is consistent with the figures of the prior two years, but somewhat lower than had been reported in 2000 (84%) and 1999 (87%).

The total amount of money donated to all non-profit entities, including churches and other houses of worship, rose from a mean of $991 in 2002 to $1079 in 2003. That constitutes an 8% increase above the 2002 average. When measured in constant dollars, however, the current average is more than one-quarter below the amount donated by the typical household in 1999.

Giving to Churches

Churches continue to be the dominant recipients of people’s generosity. Close to two out of every three households (63%) donated some money to a church, synagogue or other place of religious worship during 2003. That percentage has remained constant since 2001, but is somewhat lower than the number of church donors identified in 2000 and in 1999 (66%).

The mean amount of money donated to churches and other worship centers in 2003 was $824. That is the highest mean since 2000, and is 14% higher than the giving level measured in 2002. Once again, the current level is somewhat below the donation level, calculated in constant dollars, of 2000.

In total, about three out of every four dollars donated by individuals in 2003 went to churches, synagogues and other religious worship centers. When contributions are examined as a percentage of household income, giving to religious centers represents about 2.2% of gross income.

Tithing Has Not Changed

In total, one out of every twenty households (5%) tithed their pre-tax income to non-profit organizations. A large majority of those individuals actually gave ten percent or more of their income to churches – a group that represents 4% of the national population of households.

When the survey examined the behavior of born again adults – those who have made a significant personal commitment to Jesus Christ and who believe they will experience eternal life because of their confession of sins and acceptance of Jesus Christ as their savior – the outcome showed just 7% had tithed to their church. That figure was consistent with the 2002 data among born again adults, which showed just 6% had tithed to their church. The current percentage is just half as many as had tithed in 2002 (14%). Interestingly, more than twice as many born again adults gave no money to a church last year (18%) as tithed to a church (7%).

Among the born again population, which represents 38% of all adults, the average giving to churches was $1411 – much higher than a year earlier ($1220), but below previous year’s totals. The amount of gross income donated by born again adults to their church averaged 3.8%.

Some Groups Are More Generous Than Others

The Barna Group survey also identified segments of the population that are the most and the least likely to tithe their money to churches and other worship centers.

The segments that were most likely to give at least ten percent to their house of worship included evangelicals (14% did so); adults with an active faith (12% of those who had attended church, prayed and read the Bible during the previous week); African-Americans, born agains, charismatic or Pentecostal Christians, and people from households with a gross income of $60,000 or more (7% among each of those segments).

The segments that were least likely to tithe included Catholics (1%) as well as non-born again individuals, adults under 35, and those from households with a gross income of $40,000 to $59,999 (2% of the people in each of those segments tithed).

Motivational Difficulties

George Barna, whose company conducted the tracking survey, commented that church giving will likely remain flat until church leaders address people’s motivations for giving. “Once a church establishes itself as being trustworthy in people’s minds, it will raise a minimal amount of money from attenders. However, to significantly increase people’s willingness to give generously, a church must speak to the issues that get people excited. The leader, first and foremost, must present a compelling vision for the ministry – not simply keeping the doors open and the programs running, but a clear and energizing goal that describes how lives will be transformed by the church if people contribute their time, money and skills. Related to that vision,” Barna continued, “the church must then impress potential donors with its ability to minister in ways that are efficient, effective, satisfying urgent needs, providing personal benefits, and incorporating donors into the heart of the effort to bring about serious life-change. Most donors give a modest sum of money out of habit, guilt or hope, but are not moved to share or sacrifice in a bigger way because they do not sense that the church is revolutionizing the community.”

Read About How...How To Increase Giving In Your Church

With the economic turnaround recently trumpeted by the Bush Administration, Barna stated that the future funding potential for churches is substantial. However, the researcher cautioned, “continuing to raise funds the same way they always do – generic pledging campaigns, asking people to pray about giving, talking about people’s responsibility for funding the operations and programs of the church – will simply generate the same lukewarm response from congregants. The availability of funds and the willingness to invest in meaningful ministry does not automatically lead to increased giving by churched people. It’s a highly competitive market for funds, with more than one million non-profit organizations vying for donor dollars. The organizations that score big are those that understand why they exist and how to motivate donors to get on-board with distinctive and impactful activity that stimulates people to give beyond the normal one or two percent that is given without much thought or sacrifice.”

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Fewer Than 1 in 10 Teenagers Believe that Music Piracy is Morally Wrong (040426)

(Ventura, CA) – For decades, music has created a source of identity and enjoyment for teenagers. While that has been true for many years, a major recent change concerns how teenagers acquire their favorite musical styles and artists. Millions of teens now copy CDs for friends and download unauthorized songs from the Internet – activities commonly referred to as “music piracy.” To address the piracy problem, the recording industry has leveraged legal action against music downloaders and tried to force the closure of illegal Internet music-sharing services (such as the original Napster and Kazaa).

But a new study conducted by The Barna Group suggests that, despite the widespread coverage of the legal arguments and fight against piracy, most young consumers possess no moral qualms about getting music illegally. Instead, the vast majority of teens (86%) believes that music piracy – including copying a CD for a friend or downloading non-promotional music online for free – either is morally acceptable or is not even a moral issue. Just 8% claim that such activities are morally wrong.

Moreover, the online survey of 1,448 teenagers showed that a teen’s moral perspective on music piracy was the most significant predictor of his or her engagement in music theft. The study, conducted for the Nashville, Tenn.-based Gospel Music Association (GMA), also discovered that the piracy-related views and behaviors of born again Christian teens are nearly the same as those of non-born again young people.

Four Views on Piracy

Teens were asked whether they feel two common forms of music piracy – copying CDs for friends and downloading unauthorized music from the Internet – were morally right, morally wrong, or not a moral issue. Only 1 in every 13 teenagers (8%) expressed moral opposition to piracy – claiming that both copying CDs for others and unauthorized downloading were morally wrong.

However, there are two and a half times more teenagers on the other side of the moral spectrum: 21% of teens said that both CD burning and downloading are morally OK

The most prolific group of teens – representing 2 in every 3 teenagers (65%) – is the moral pragmatists, embracing a “whatever works” philosophy regarding music acquisition. These teenagers believe that music piracy is not a moral issue, or they possess inconsistent views about CD burning and downloading (that is, believing one is wrong while the other is fine). Another 6% of teenagers said they were “undecided” about the morality of music piracy.

Faith Matters?

The study shows that born again Christian teens are not much different than are non-born again teens in terms of holding an anti-piracy moral position. Just 10% of Christian teens believe that copying CDs for friends and unauthorized music downloading are morally wrong, compared to 6% of non-born agains (the four-point difference barely qualified as statistically significant). Also, the proportion of pragmatists was statistically equivalent – 64% of born again Christians and 66% of non-Christians.

One of the most troubling findings of the survey was the fact that most teens opposed to music piracy are not entirely convinced that their perspectives are correct. Just 1 in every 3 teens (36%) who take the piracy-is-wrong view said they feel very certain of that stance. That means just 1 out of every 50 American teens is strongly convinced that it is wrong to copy CDs for friends or to download music illegally. To make matters worse, two-thirds of those teens who embrace piracy (64%) are convinced of their views.

Attitudes Drive Behavior

Overall, 4 out of every 5 teenagers (80%) have engaged in some type of music piracy in the past six months – including making copies of CDs for other people, downloading free music (other than promotions or giveaways), or uploading their own music files to the Internet to share with others. Based on an examination of more than 70 behavioral and attitudinal variables, the factor most strongly correlated to participation in music piracy is what type of moral perspective the teen maintains on the subject. Most other factors had no apparent connection to engagement in piracy. For instance, active church attenders (78%) were just as likely as non-attenders (81%) to engage in piracy; born again Christians (77%) were just as likely as non-born again Christians (81%). The vast majority of teenagers – typically about 8 out of every 10 teens – had engaged in some form of music piracy during the past six months, regardless of gender, age, region, academic performance, and the marital status of the teen’s parents.

In fact, the study pointed out that even 79% of the teens that claimed their parents understand the issues of music piracy very well had recently committed some form of music piracy. Consequently, the survey indicates that parental awareness of piracy activity and concerns may not stunt such behavior among their offspring.

Unexpectedly, teen buyers of Christian music were just as likely as other teens to engage in music piracy. This included teens who had purchased contemporary Christian music (77% of these buyers had committed an act of piracy), gospel recordings (80%), and worship music (80%).

The strongest correlate of decreased piracy behavior was a teen’s moral view. Among teens who believe piracy is wrong, just 58% had engaged in any form of piracy within the last six months, compared to 63% of those who are undecided, 80% among pragmatists, and 85% of those who claim that piracy is morally OK.

As further evidence of the role attitudes play in the piracy equation, the only group that generated a piracy participation rate of less than 50% was moralists who felt “very certain” of their views. Among these scrupulous teens, “only” 45% had engaged in piracy. Although even the moralists’ piracy activities leave much to be desired, it still represents nearly 50% less participation in illegal forms of music consumption when compared to those who hold a more lax moral view of piracy.

Music Acquisition Sources

Despite some predictions that consumers will no longer buy music in traditional retail outlets as a result of piracy, music stores still reign as the most common music source for teenagers (84% of teenagers said they had purchased a CD or cassette from a music store in the past six months).

Still, illegal forms of acquiring music have become routine activities for most teenagers. Sixty-four percent of teens had made a copy of music for a friend; 58% had made a copy for a family member; 59% had downloaded a free, non-promotional song from the Internet; and 25% had uploaded songs onto the Internet to share with others. As yet, teens have not turned en masse to pay-per-download online services: just 12% of teens said they had paid to download a song in the last six months.

Piracy Input

One reason teens may embrace music piracy is that they receive little favorable, constructive advice on the issue. When the teenagers surveyed were asked if they had ever heard anyone talk about when it is legal to copy music onto CDs and when it is not legal, barely half (54%) indicated they had been exposed to such input. Even fewer teens (only 48%) have ever heard anyone discuss the morality of music downloading.

Furthermore, when teens get information about the moral choices related to music piracy, it rarely comes from older mentors or their parents. Peers are the most common source of teenagers’ information about CD copying (32%) as well as about music downloading (28%).

Other sources of information related to CD copying included teachers (13%), parents (11%), newscasters (9%), other people on TV (4%), siblings (2%), TV commercials (1%), radio DJs (1%), MTV (1%), newspapers (1%), and the police (1%). The music industry’s efforts to educate the public are impacting few teens when it comes to CD copying: just 5% had heard a musician or artist talk about the issue. None of the teens specifically mentioned music companies or the recording industry as a source of information on the boundaries of CD burning. Less than one-half of 1% indicated that their youth pastor or another church leader had discussed the issue.

The sources of information for the morality of downloading were very similar to those of CD burning: peers (28%), teachers (13%), parents (11%), newscasters (9%), other people on TV (4%), TV commercials (3%), newspapers (2%), siblings (1%), and radio DJs (1%). The music industry was more frequently mentioned when it came to this arena, but not by much: 8% indicated they had seen a musician or artist address downloading while 2% of teens specifically mentioned the music industry. Only 3% of teens listed their pastor and 2% identified their youth pastor as a source of moral perspective about music downloading.

Reactions to the Findings

David Kinnaman, Vice President of The Barna Group and the director of the music piracy study, corrected one of the myths about teenagers and music piracy. “People wrongly assume that teens are just looking for an excuse to rationalize stealing music, to reduce their sense of guilt. But that misses the point: their entire outlook on life – not just about music – revolves around the ‘whatever works,’ postmodern philosophy. According to this philosophy of hyper-individualism, moral behavior is essentially a private, personal matter. Desire, emotion, and personal experience become the benchmarks for determining right and wrong. Authority, truth and even language are viewed as subjective creations of society.”

“That’s why a legal argument against music piracy rings hollow for most teens: they just don’t buy the idea that a company or even an artist can ‘own’ an experience – which is essentially what music represents to them – much less tell them what is right and wrong. A legal challenge to piracy may temporarily alter some teen behavior, but without changing the underlying philosophy with which teens operate, teens’ music theft will just morph into some new form.”

Kinnaman encouraged parents, pastors and youthworkers to play a more active role in helping teenagers understand the moral boundaries of music piracy, because, as he put it, “music piracy is just one stage for the new moral drama being played out. It is a symptom of a bigger problem, but a symptom that should be taken seriously. Online porn is very similar to music piracy in that technology is facilitating and accelerating access. Pornography, therefore, is another area in which the ‘whatever works’ moral philosophy of the up-and-coming generation will be tested severely – and their postmodern philosophy will undermine more than their music loyalties. It will torpedo healthy relationships, sexuality, marriages, and families. If parents and pastors are too busy or too distracted to address music piracy, will they also fail to teach teens how to deal with online pornography and other important moral challenges? Since attitudes drive behavior, to make a difference, whether the issue is online porn or music piracy, churches and families must firmly address teens’ moral attitudes. The best way of doing that is to help teens develop a biblical worldview – that is, a means of experiencing, interpreting, and responding to reality in light of biblical perspectives.”

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Number of Unchurched Adults Has Nearly Doubled Since 1991 (040504)

(Ventura, CA) Since 1991, the adult population in the United States has grown by 15%. During that same period the number of adults who do not attend church has nearly doubled, rising from 39 million to 75 million – a 92% increase!

These startling statistics come from the most recent tracking study of religious behavior conducted by The Barna Group, a company that follows trends related to faith, culture and leadership in America. The latest study shows that the percentage of adults that is unchurched – defined as not having attended a Christian church service, other than for a holiday service, such as Christmas or Easter, or for special events such as a wedding or funeral, at any time in the past six months – has risen from 21% in 1991 to 34% today.

Demographic Distinctions

An examination of a dozen demographic attributes showed that unchurched adults differ from the churched population in at least four dimensions.

As might be expected, men dominate the ranks of the unchurched. Although they comprise slightly less than half of the national population, men constitute 55% of the unchurched. They represent only 38% of the born again public, indicating an even wider disparity between those who are most devoted to their faith and those who are least interested in such matters.

The unchurched are also younger than the norm. The median age of U.S. adults is 43, but it is just 38 among the unchurched. Born again adults are substantially older than either group (median: 46).

Corresponding to their younger age, the survey also found that unchurched people are more likely than other to be single and to never have been married. Whereas one-quarter of American adults (26%) are single-never-married, nearly two-fifths of the unchurched fit that definition (37%).

The unchurched are also attracted to the coastal regions of the nation. Although just four out of ten adults (42%) live in the Northeast or West, more than half of the unchurched (51%) live there. In fact, the two largest states in the nation – California and New York – contain 18% of the nation’s residents, but one-quarter of its unchurched adults (23%).

Religious Differences

A study of 18 different religious factors – nine behaviors and nine beliefs – found that the unchurched are different from the national average on every one. The gap is even bigger on 16 of the 18 factors between the unchurched and the born again public.

In a typical week, unchurched people are less likely than all adults to read the Bible (19% compared to 44%) and to pray (63% versus 83%), and they are less likely to have embraced Jesus Christ as their savior. One of the more surprising outcomes, however, is that while about half of the churched population has accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, one out of every six unchurched adults (17%) has done so, as well.

Interestingly, if the minority of unchurched adults who are born again were connected to a church, the resulting increase would be nearly 13 million new people – more than have joined the nation’s churches in the past decade combined.

Among the theological differences uncovered were that unchurched adults are less likely than others to believe the Bible is accurate, that Jesus was sinless, that Satan is real, that salvation is through the grace of God, and that God is the creator and present-day ruler of the universe.

Patterns Identified

Upon examining the data, the director of the study, author and researcher George Barna, concluded that unchurched adults are notable for three unique behavioral patterns.

“The unchurched are more likely than others to be somewhat isolated from the mainstream activities of the society in which they live,” he explained. “They see themselves as outsiders and often take refuge in that status. Evidence of this arms-length approach to life, beyond their refusal to participate in church life, includes lower levels of voter registration, less money donated to non-profit organizations, fewer non-profits supported, lower levels of media usage, and less engagement in community service activities.”

The second distinguishing characteristic was what Barna called their non-committal nature. “You can see this emotional and intellectual distancing of themselves through their more moderate ideology, their more ambiguous theological perspectives, a lower likelihood of embracing terms used to describe oneself (such as “generous,” “friendly” and “deeply spiritual”), a substantially lower level of self-professed commitment to their faith of choice, and their rejection of the idea of responsibility for nurturing other people’s faith.” Barna also noted that the high proportion of atheists and agnostics among the unchurched fits this pattern of distaste for finite or irrevocable choices.

The final attribute is the independence of the unchurched. In addition to having the highest likelihood of registering to vote but refusing to align with a political party, the data show the unchurched to be less likely to marry, less likely to have children (even when married) and being less loyal to organizations and products.

Challenges for the Faithful

Barna noted that to unchurched people embracing church life is “both counter-cultural and counter-intuitive.” Reaching out to unchurched people is difficult for born again Christians because the two groups have such different viewpoints and lifestyles. “Born again adults are more excited about a church’s strengths and more forgiving of its weaknesses, more disposed to spiritual growth, and less skeptical of theological and biblical claims. They neither see nor understand the obstacles that impede the unchurched. Addressing the reticence of the unchurched takes more than prayer and hard work: it requires a lot of deep reflection to see the world and the local church from a completely different angle.

“Unchurched people are not just lazy or uniformed,” the researcher continued. “They are wholly disinterested in church life – often passionately so. Stirring worship music won’t attract them because worship isn’t even on their radar screen. More comfortable pews cannot compete with the easy chair or the bed that already serve the unchurched person well. Church events cannot effectively compete with what the world has to offer. The only thing the Church can provide that no one else has is a life-changing, practical encounter – and on-going relationship – with the living God and with people transformed by similar encounters. Until such a connection is made, focusing on features, programs and benefits other than such a life-shaping encounter is more likely to lose ground than to gain it.”

Barna noted that the millions of young unchurched have no understanding of or interest in a church, even if it is “contemporary” in style. “Millions of young adults are more interested in truth, authenticity, experiences, relationships and spirituality than they are in laws, traditions, events, disciplines, institutions and religion. The confluence of preconceived notions, past experiences and evolving lifestyles and values means that existing churches simply cannot reach millions of today’s unchurched people. The rapidly swelling numbers of unchurched people may be forcing existing churches to reinvent their core spiritual practices while holding tightly to their core spiritual beliefs. It will take radically new settings and experiences to effectively introduce unchurched individuals to biblical principles and practices.”

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Faith Has a Limited Effect On Most People’s Behavior (040524)

(Ventura, CA) Jesus taught that Christians would be recognizable by their distinctive behavior – specifically, by the way they love others and how their lives reflect their spiritual values and beliefs (i.e., the “fruit” of their transformation). A new report from The Barna Group, a cultural analysis company in southern California, presents research indicating that people’s faith does not make as much of as difference as might be expected – especially among non-evangelical born again Christians. Based on a national survey that related people’s faith and 19 lifestyle activities that might be expected to be affected by faith views, the report concludes that two groups – Christian evangelicals and those without a faith preference (i.e., atheists and agnostics) are those that stand out from the crowd.

Evangelicals: Few in Number, Different in Lifestyle

Christian evangelicals are a small proportion of the national population, representing just 7% of the adult mass. However, they are the group whose faith is most clearly evident in their behavioral choices. The survey divided the population into five faith segments (evangelicals, non-evangelical born again Christians, notional Christians, adherents of non-Christian faiths, and atheists/agnostics). Evangelicals emerged as the group most likely to do each of the following:

·discuss spiritual matters with other people

·volunteer at a church or non-profit organization

·discuss political matters with other people

·discuss moral issues and conditions with others

·stop watching a television program because of its values or viewpoints

·go out of their way to encourage or compliment someone

Evangelicals were also distinguished by being the segment least likely to engage in the following endeavors:

·contact a political official

·view pornographic media

·read their horoscope

·use tobacco products

There is a strong connection between the faith views and practices of evangelicals and their lifestyle. Evangelicals also emerged as the group most likely to attend church; pray to God; and read the Bible. By definition, they believe in the accuracy of the Bible, contend that they have a personal responsibility to share their faith with others, claim that their religious faith is very important in their life, reject the idea that Jesus Christ sinned, describe God as the Creator who still rules the universe today, and believe that Satan is real. That body of beliefs – and the worldview it represents – has produced a distinct way of living in an increasingly postmodern culture – a lifestyle that is increasingly at odds with the accepted norms.

Atheists and Agnostics: Practicing What They Believe

The other faith segment that was notably divergent from the national averages is comprised of those who are atheist or agnostic. This group is larger than the evangelicals, but still relatively small in number: 12% of U.S. adults.

Atheists and agnostics were the group most likely to do each of the following:

·recycle used materials

·visit an adult-only website

·view pornographic media

·get legally drunk

·have sexual intercourse with someone to whom they are not married

Adults without a faith preference were the segment least likely to do each of the following behaviors:

·volunteer at a church or non-profit organization

·stop watching a television program because of its values or viewpoints

·fast for religious reasons

·do at least 30 minutes of physical exercise in the past week

This segment has grown more quickly than any of the other five faith segments in the U.S. during the past decade.

For more information about evangelicals and other faith groups in America, see The Barna Update of March 19, 2004: Religious Beliefs Remain Constant But Subgroups Are Quite Different

Non-Evangelical Born Again Christians Struggle for Distinction

The second-largest faith segment in the nation – non-evangelical born again Christians – was more similar to notional Christians (i.e., people who consider themselves Christian but have not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior) and to adherents of other faiths (such as Islam, Buddhism and Scientology) than to evangelical Christians. (Non-evangelical born again adults have accepted Christ as their savior but do not necessarily accept the Bible as completely accurate in its teachings, accept a personal responsibility to share their faith with others, cite their faith as very important in their life, believe that Jesus Christ was holy, believe that God is the Creator who continues to rule the universe today, or believe that Satan is not symbolic but truly exists.) This segment constitutes about one-third of the national adult population.

Of the 19 lifestyle items tested in the survey, non-evangelical born again adults were indistinguishable from people of other faiths in relation to 10 of those factors, and identical to notional Christians regarding 12. They were less similar to evangelicals than to adults who do not possess a similar trust in Jesus Christ as their savior.

Notional Christians Lean Toward Non-Christian Behavior

Notional Christians – adults who say they are Christian but have never made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ – represent almost half of all people attending Christian churches in the U.S. In total, they are about one-third of the adult population.

These individuals were more likely to behave in ways that characterized non-Christians than to reflect the behavior of born again adults. In other words, their faith does not seem to be a defining factor in many of their lifestyle choices. For instance, this group is more similar to born again Christians on matters such as recycling and the likelihood of discussing political matters. However, they are more similar to non-Christians on matters such as the likelihood of discussing faith matters, volunteering, turning off offensive television programs, discussing moral issues, gambling, using tobacco, having sex outside of marriage, getting drunk, and passing on encouragement to others.

Particularly Surprising Outcomes

The survey identified several instances in which people’s faith seemed to correlate to behavior that is antithetical to their belief structure.

For instance, evangelical and non-evangelical born again Christians were the two segments least likely to engage in recycling. Just half of evangelicals and 47% of non-evangelical born agains recycle, compared to more than six out of ten adults who are either atheists/agnostics, adherents of non-Christian faiths, or notional Christians.

While the mass media commonly portray evangelicals as rabidly involved in politics, the survey showed that even though evangelicals were the group most likely to discuss political matters with other people, they were the segment least likely to contact a political official to express their views on an issue. (Past research by Barna has demonstrated that evangelicals are the faith group most likely to register to vote and most likely to vote.)

The study also indicated that even though the Bible and churches encourage fasting for religious reasons, the people most likely to engage in religious fasts are adherents of non-Christian faiths. In fact, the non-Christian people of faith are twice as likely as Christians to engage in fasting.

Atheists and agnostics are sometimes incorrectly portrayed as people who have no interest in moral issues. They survey showed that this group is just as likely to discuss moral conditions and issues as they are to bring up matters related to sports, parenting or politics in personal conversations.

Despite teaching that focuses on the meaning of “good stewardship,” Christians are more likely to invest their money in lottery tickets than are non-Christians. Overall, 15% of born again and 23% of notional Christians purchased lottery tickets in a typical week, compared to just 10% of other-faith adherents and 12% of atheists/agnostics.

Reactions to the Findings

The results of the survey caused George Barna, the Directing Leader of The Barna Group, to note that many Christians are hard-pressed to convert their beliefs into action. “The ultimate aim of belief in Jesus is not simply to possess divergent theological ideas but to become a transformed person. These statistics highlight the fact that millions of people who rely on Jesus Christ for their eternal destiny have problems translating their religious beliefs into action beyond Sunday mornings.”

Citing related studies among children, Barna suggested that Christian churches and families would benefit from integrating faith practices at earlier ages. “We have found that unless young children are taught how to tie their beliefs into their daily behavior, the chances of that faith ever influencing their lifestyle in significant ways is slim. Parents and religious teachers must both model such integration for young people while simultaneously working through such behavior and choices with them. Faith perspectives that are not quickly translated into action become mantras that get lip service but have limited affect on lives – theology without hands and feet. Our studies consistently show that the habits formed while we are young are the behaviors that define us when we are old.”

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Tight Presidential Race Influenced By People’s Faith (040607)

(Ventura, CA) - As the political season begins to hit full stride with commercials, campaign appearances and seemingly endless analysis of November's presidential election, a new survey from The Barna Group indicates that people's choice of candidate is more likely to be influenced by their faith than their party preference or demographic background.

In a national survey of 1618 adults, including 1260 registered voters, the Barna study discovered that the leader in the presidential race depends on how you analyze the data. When asking all adults who are old enough to vote whom they prefer, Democratic challenger John Kerry leads President Bush by a slim margin, 43% to 40%, with independent candidate Ralph Nader garnering 5%, other candidates gaining 5%, and just 6% currently undecided.

However, when only registered voters are considered, the race is a replay of the 2000 election between Mr. Bush and Al Gore: a dead heat, 43% to 43%.

Another way of examining the data are by measuring the opinions of people whose past voting behavior and current attitudes toward the election suggest that they are likely to actually vote. Among likely voters, Mr. Bush holds a small lead over Mr. Kerry, 49% to 44%.

If you were to seek the choice of likely voters who say they are absolutely certain of whom they will vote for in November - a group that constitutes 75% of the likely voters - Mr. Bush's lead expands to a sizeable 42% to 33% margin.

The research also revealed that the eventual outcome may well hinge on how the candidates relate to people's faith views.

Faith Groups Differ Dramatically

Evangelicals are just 7% of the national population. However, they receive an inordinate amount of coverage during major elections because of their alleged influence in the political arena. Evangelicals were one of the most prolific supporters of Mr. Bush in the 2000 election: the incumbent received 83% of the votes cast by the group. (In the 1996 election, evangelicals were less impressed with the Republican candidates, giving Bob Dole 76% of their votes.)

In the forthcoming election, an even higher proportion of evangelicals - 86% - expect to cast their ballot for the President. (Only 8% plan to vote for Mr. Kerry.) The only voting blocks of similar consensus in their choice of a candidate are conservative Republicans (94% favoring Mr. Bush), people who voted for Mr. Bush in 2000 (88% again supporting the Texan), liberal Democrats (95% in support of Mr. Kerry), and blacks (77% of whom expect to vote for the Democratic nominee). Gay adults, who constitute 4% of the adult population, are the population group most likely to vote (93% expected turnout) but they are comparatively less unanimous in their candidate of preference (67% to 23% in favor of Mr. Kerry).

Evangelicals are also the faith group most likely to vote (the survey indicates that 88% are highly likely to enter a ballot) and are the population segment most supportive of the President's performance in office (89% give him a favorable evaluation).

Evangelicals are generally but not exclusively Republican (62%), mostly conservative (75%) and are one of the population segments most likely to registered to vote (84%) and to actually exercise the privilege of voting (88%).

Born again Christians gain lots of media attention during election cycles as well. However, when the evangelical portion of the born again population is removed, the non-evangelical born again segment has a different profile than many expect. This segment, 31% of the adult public, is also above average in terms of being registered to vote (86%). However, it is merely average in terms of showing up on Election Day (65% likelihood, compared to the national average of 67% among registered voters). More surprising are the ideological and party connections of the non-evangelical born again adults. Although the media typically label them "right wing," only one-third of this group (38%) is politically conservative. Generally thought of as Republican, Barna surveys consistently show that only one-third of this constituency (35%) is associated with the Republican Party. Currently, an even greater percentage is aligned with the Democratic Party (40%).

Perhaps the most surprising revelation about non-evangelical born again Christians, though, is that they presently favor Mr. Bush over Mr. Kerry by a 53% to 35% margin - a substantial difference (18 points) but hardly monolithic. In comparison, agnostics and atheists prefer the Democratic challenger to Mr. Bush (48% versus 24%, a 24 percentage-point gap), and people aligned with non-Christian faiths prefer Mr. Kerry by a 55% to 22% margin (a 33-point gap).

The bulk of the Christian population is comprised of "Notional" Christians - people who describe themselves as Christian but are neither evangelical nor born again. This segment is 39% of the national population. This group is radically divergent from either the evangelical or non-evangelical born again sectors of the Christian body. They have a below-average likelihood of being registered to vote (77%), are overwhelmingly aligned with the Democratic Party (42% versus 27% associated with the Republican Party), and are slightly less likely than other people to vote in November. Only one out of every five describes themselves as "mostly conservative" and a paltry one-out-of-three (34%) approve of Mr. Bush's performance in office. The result is a complete reversal of the expected "Christian" preference for a candidate: a majority of Notionals (52%) plans to support Mr. Kerry, compared to only one-third (32%) who anticipates voting for Mr. Bush.

Why They Choose Their Candidate

When people who have selected a candidate to support were asked why they chose that candidate, the dominant reason for favoring Mr. Kerry was simple: "he's not George Bush." Nearly half of all Kerry supporters (44%) gave this as the most important reason for their choice. The only other reason for supporting Mr. Kerry that was provided by at least one out of every ten of his constituency was his opposition to the war or different approach to foreign policy.

Mr. Bush was selected by his admirers for a wider range of reasons. The most prolific of those were satisfaction with his job performance (25%), his character (18%), his foreign policy and handling of the war (14%), and the integration of his faith and moral views in his presidential decisions (12%).

While 12% of Mr. Bush's supporters listed his reliance upon his faith in his official duties as a major plus, only 2% of Mr. Kerry's supporters specified either candidate's faith views or practices as the dominant reason for backing the Democrat.

Seven percent of Mr. Bush's base said they prefer him primarily because of his leadership skills, while only 2% of Mr. Kerry's supporters named leadership as their main reason for selecting the Massachusetts Senator.

Projecting the Outcome

Predicting who will win in November is premature at this stage of the race, according to George Barna, the director of the research project. Not only has the campaign yet to swing into high gear, but also there are still too many undecided voters who are weighing their options.

"If the election were held today," the researcher explained, "Mr. Bush would be re-elected by a small margin. If we allocate the votes of those who are likely to vote and are still making up their minds, Mr. Kerry would get a majority of the laggards, but not enough to compensate for the large pool of committed votes already lined up with Mr. Bush.

"However, these next five months will be critical in seeing where the undecided voters land," continued Barna. "They comprise one-fifth of the likely voters. That outcome will be intimately related to people's faith leanings and how they interpret the moral standards and personal character of the leading candidates. For instance, one-quarter of the non-evangelical born again segment, and one-third of the Notional Christian segment have yet to decide whom they will support. Their choices will tip the scale one way or the other on November 9."

Barna also identified the historical precedent for each candidate's faith-driven support. "Mr. Kerry is receiving less support from non-evangelical born again Christians than did either Bill Clinton in 1996 or Al Gore in 2000. Compensating for that, however, is the weaker support given to Mr. Bush by the Notional Christians than they had given to the Republican candidates in the past two elections. Although voters from non-Christian faiths are a small slice of the electorate - just one out of every eight are aligned with non-Christian faiths and one in ten are atheist or agnostic - they overwhelming side with Mr. Kerry. From that perspective, then, Mr. Bush's chances of re-election hinge squarely on the choices of the Christian body."

The research pointed out one particular caution for the President's campaign. "Getting his supporters to actually turnout on Election Day will be critical for Mr. Bush. Currently, there is the danger of his most ardent supporters - the evangelicals - failing to show up because they are so firmly convinced he will win. 81% say the President will win in November; only 6% predict a victory by Mr. Kerry. Non-evangelical born agains are not quite as confident, but they are twice as likely to believe victory will go to Mr. Bush as to expect Mr. Kerry to win. Should that confidence deflate turnout among the Bush support base, a close election could swing to a different outcome."

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Public Divided On Marriage Amendment (040621)

(Ventura, CA) - The Southern Baptist Convention recently adopted a resolution supporting the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment. Senate Republicans expect to open floor debate on the issue in mid-July. Television talk shows and political pundits can’t seem to get enough of the issue. But a new nationwide survey conducted by The Barna Group, of Ventura, California, indicates that more than one-third of all adults are not even aware of the amendment. The survey of 1618 adults revealed that 37% of voting-age citizens have never heard of the amendment.

The people groups most likely to be unfamiliar with the existence of the proposed amendment are women (40% unaware), adults under the age of 40 (41%), parents of children under 18 (42%), residents of the South (42%), non-whites (51%), adults not registered to vote (51%), and individuals aligned with a non-Christian faith (45%).

Several population segments were acutely aware of the amendment. Those included gay and lesbian adults (94% aware), evangelicals (89%), Republicans (77%), conservatives (77%), people likely to vote in the November election (76%), college graduates (75%), and residents of California (75%).

There Is No Majority

When the amendment was described to adults, regardless of their prior awareness, opinions were nearly evenly divided. In total, 46% favored the amendment while 44% opposed it and the remaining 10% had no opinion. When people’s opinions were examined by the intensity of their opinion, 35% strongly favored the amendment, 11% possessed moderate support, 31% were strongly opposed and 13% were somewhat opposed.

The strongest support for the amendment came from evangelicals (83%), conservatives (58%), Republicans (56%), Protestants (49%), and non-evangelical born again Christians (47%). At the other end of the spectrum, the segments most fervently opposed to the amendment were liberals (55%), atheists and agnostics (51%), and college graduates (43%).

Among the 37% who were previously unaware of the amendment, upon hearing a description of the amendment 37% said they supported such a change to the Constitution, 45% opposed it, and 18% remained undecided.

The survey also showed that the adults most likely to vote in November favored the amendment by a comfortable margin, 52% to 43%. That margin may not be enough, however, to persuade two-thirds of the members in each house of the Congress to pass the proposal, and then to generate passage in three-quarters of the states.

People Don’t Want Gay Clergy

A similar division of public opinion is nowhere to be found, though, when it comes to the marital leanings of the clergy. By greater than a two-to-one margin, the public is opposed to ordaining practicing homosexuals as clergy. Less than one-quarter of adults (24%) support ordaining ministers who are actively gay, compared to 60% who oppose the idea. One-sixth of the public (16%) was not sure how they felt on this issue.

Generational differences were apparent on this matter. Among Baby Busters (ages 21 to 38) 52% opposed ordaining practicing homosexuals, compared to 63% opposition from Baby Boomers (ages 39 to 57) and 70% of Elders (ages 58 and older).

No segment was more uniformly opposed to gay ordination than evangelicals. Just 2% supported this practice. Among non-evangelical born again Christians, 11% favored ordaining practicing homosexuals. Catholics were nearly twice as comfortable with the idea as Protestants (28% versus 16%, respectively).

There was a substantial degree of inconsistency between people’s support for the Federal Marriage Amendment and its acceptance of ordaining active homosexuals. One out of every eight supporters of the marriage amendment (13%) favored ordaining practicing homosexuals. In a similar vein, almost half of the adults who opposed the amendment also opposed ordaining clergy who were actively gay (42%).

One of the unexpected survey outcomes was discovering that 12% of homosexuals and lesbians opposed ordaining gay clergy and another one-quarter (25%) were not sure how they felt about this matter. That left a surprisingly small majority of gay adults – 64% - in favor of ordaining homosexuals.

Political Points to Score

The survey showed that President Bush has more to gain from supporting the amendment and opposing the ordination of gay clergy than Senator Kerry does by opposing the former and supporting the latter.

Among people likely to vote in the election and who support the President, 54% strongly favor the marriage amendment and 17% strongly oppose it – a gap of 37 percentage points. Among Mr. Kerry’s supporters, a plurality (43%) strongly opposes the amendment and 20% are strongly in favor – a gap of 23 points. Among the undecided voters, 35% strongly support the amendment and 32% strongly oppose it – a difference that is not statistically significant.

Although neither candidate is likely to mention his views on the ordination of gay clergy, 65% of the President’s likely supporters in the November election strongly oppose the ordination of gay clergy while just 4% strongly support it. Among Mr. Kerry’s supporters, on the other hand, only 18% strongly favor gay ordinations while nearly twice as many (33%) strongly oppose it.

Loudest Voices Represent Small Niches

The most vocal constituencies in this battle represent relatively small segments of the population. For instance, the homosexual niche constitutes just 4% of the adult population, of whom 78% oppose the FMA. At the opposite end of the ideological continuum are Christian evangelicals, a group that is 7% of the population, 83% of whom strongly favor the amendment.

Similarly, conservative Republicans are only 15% of the national electorate, but 66% strongly favor the amendment. Likewise, conservative born again Christians – most, but not all of whom are Republican – are 18% of the population, and 72% of them strongly support the amendment. A counterpart niche is liberal Democrats, who number just 7% of the adult population, and among whom 64% strongly oppose the amendment.

Why Positions Seem Lukewarm

Although few Americans are homosexual, and most adults believe that marriage is a relationship between a man and woman, many Americans believe that this is a “gray area” of morality that is best left without tight legal definitions. George Barna, who directed the study, noted that even many born again Christians are not convinced that their definition of marriage should be codified into law.

“Evangelicals are strongly supportive of the marriage amendment, but only about half of the larger group of born again Christians – those who are not evangelical – strongly favor such an amendment,” the researcher and author explained. “Atheists and agnostics, who reject the Bible as truth, contend that there is no moral legitimacy to defining marriage as the amendment would do. The remaining half of the population – comprised of notional Christians and people associated with non-Christian faiths – lean toward letting people make their own choices, without any legal limitations or parameters.

“This issue is reminiscent of the battle over abortion.” Barna continued. “Millions of adults say they would never get an abortion, they would not want their children to have an abortion, and they believe that abortion is morally wrong – but that the decision ought to be left up to each individual as to what is right or wrong for them. In the same manner, millions of people now indicate that they are not gay and many even claim to be repulsed by homosexuality, yet they contend that moral and lifestyle choices such as homosexual marriage should be left in the hands of each individual. This is classic relativism – a philosophy that has taken the nation by storm in the last quarter century and is now restructuring every aspect of American society. The consequence is that many people are personally opposed to such behavior but feel compelled to allow that behavior to take place legally because they also contend that there are no moral absolutes.”

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New Survey Examines the Impact of Gibson’s “Passion” Movie (040710)

(Ventura, CA) - Mel Gibson’s controversial movie about the last twelve hours of the life of Jesus, The Passion of the Christ, stunned the movie industry by becoming the eighth highest-grossing domestic film of all-time. Much of that success can be attributed to the fervent support of churches, many of whom labeled the movie as one of the greatest evangelistic tools in history. A new national survey of more than 1600 adults, conducted by The Barna Group, examines not only how many people saw the movie, but what impact the film had on their life.

Americans Love Movies

When people were asked about movies, nearly half said that viewing movies is one of their two or three favorite types of entertainment. That love of films was underscored by the finding that 95% of all adults saw at least one movie in the past year, and that the median number of movies watched by movie-viewers in the previous 12 months was 38 movies. That is an average of one movie every 10 days, or about three per month. (This includes movies seen in theatres, rented movies and those watched on television.)

The nation’s most prolific movie viewers tend to be people under 40 years of age, Asian-Americans and homosexuals. Other groups who watch more movies that the norm included those who cohabit, atheists and agnostics, born again Christians who are neither conservative nor liberal on political matters, and residents of Texas and New York.

The survey found that the typical adult watches about nine out of every ten movies they view within their homes, either via television (cable, satellite or broadcast) or rental (video or DVD). The typical adult sees one movie per quarter in a theatre.

Spiritual Overtones on Film

Four out of ten adults (41%) said that within the past two years they had seen a movie that had caused them to think more seriously about their religious faith. Not surprisingly, it was the people who were already most inclined to think about faith matters who said this, such as evangelicals (68%) and people with an active personal faith (65% of those who pray, read the Bible and attend a church service in a typical week).

When asked to identify the movies that had led them to ponder their faith, The Passion was the only movie to be listed by more than 5% of this segment. Overall, six out of ten adults who had reflected on their faith in response to a movie (59%) identified The Passion as one of the movies that caused such reconsideration.

When asked to indicate if they had seen any movie during the past two years that had led them to change something they believed about the Christian faith, only 6% of the movie-viewing populace admitted to such influence. Once again, The Passion was the leader, listed by half (53%) of those who said they had undergone a movie-driven change in their beliefs. Other movies attributed with such influence included Left Behind (7%), A Walk to Remember (3%) and Joshua (3%).

The Passion Was Popular

Box-office receipts provide one measure of the popularity of Mel Gibson’s movie about Jesus Christ. The survey discovered that nearly one out of every three adults in the country (31%) claim to have seen the movie. While that is considerably less than the numbers who said they had seen other recent mega-hits such as Finding Nemo (57%), Pirates of the Caribbean (45%) and Bruce Almighty (42%), each of those movies had the benefit of increasing its audience share through video and DVD rentals after their theatrical release came to an end. The Passion has yet to be released for home viewing.

An even more impressive indicator of the film’s popularity is the quality rating it received from those who saw it. While the film critics of many leading newspapers and magazines trashed the movie, viewers raved about it. Overall, two out of every three adults (67%) said it was “excellent,” and most of the rest (23%) described it as “good.” Seven percent said The Passion &nbspwas “average,” while a combined 2% rated it as “below average” or “terrible.”

As might have been expected, evangelicals were the most enthusiastic about the movie (89% said the movie was excellent) while the lowest ratings came from atheists and agnostics, homosexuals and liberal Democrats. Protestants were more likely than Catholics to give The Passion &nbspan “excellent” rating (78% versus 68%, respectively).

Viewer Demographics

While such enviable ratings and ticket revenues might suggest that The Passion &nbspwas simply a rallying point for religious zealots, the survey data indicate that Gibson’s movie drew a broad-based audience into theatres. There were no significant variances between those who saw The Passion &nbspand the national population related to age, gender, education, household income or presence of children in the household.

The only population groups that were more highly represented at showings of The Passion &nbspthan they are in the national population were single adults (48% of the 18-and-older population is single yet 53% of the movie’s audience was not married) and Hispanics (13% of the national population compared to 20% of the audience). Roughly half of the people who saw the movie (53%) were born again Christians, which is somewhat higher than their incidence in the adult population (38%). Similarly, adults who are atheists or agnostics represent about 12% of the national population but were just 4% of the viewing audience for this movie.

If the statistics concerning the spiritual inclinations of viewers are projected to the U.S. population, then the study would estimate that approximately 36 million adults who saw the movie were born again Christians and an additional 31 million were not born again.

Lasting Impact of the Movie

People who had seen The Passion &nbspwere asked if it affected their religious beliefs in any way. Just one out of every six viewers (16%) said it had. When pressed to describe the specific shifts in their spiritual perspectives, the most common changes were the perceived importance of how they treat other people, becoming more concerned about the affect of their life choices and personal behavior, and gaining a deeper understanding of, or appreciation for what Christ had done for them through His death and resurrection. Each of those changes was named by 3% of the aggregate viewing audience.

The audience was also asked if viewing the movie had affected their religious practices. In total, 18% said some aspect of their religious behavior was different due to seeing the movie. The most common behavioral changes listed included praying more often (listed by 9% of those who saw the film), attending church services more often (8%), and becoming more involved in church-related activities (3%).

Overall, one out of every ten viewers of The Passion (10%) indicated that they had changed some aspect of both their religious beliefs and practices in response to the movie.

Among the most startling outcomes drawn from the research is the apparent absence of a direct evangelistic impact by the movie. Despite marketing campaigns labeling the movie the “greatest evangelistic tool” of our era, less than one-tenth of one percent of those who saw the film stated that they made a profession of faith or accepted Jesus Christ as their savior in reaction to the film’s content.

Equally surprising was the lack of impact on people’s determination to engage in evangelism. Less than one-half of one percent of the audience said they were motivated to be more active in sharing their faith in Christ with others as a result of having seen the movie.

Perspective on the Influence of The Passion

George Barna, the director of the research, commented that many people would probably be surprised that there was not a more lasting and intense impact from the movie. “Immediate reaction to the movie seemed to be quite intense,” he noted, “but people’s memories are short and are easily redirected in a media-saturated, fast-paced culture like ours. The typical adult had already watched another six movies at the time of the survey interview, not including dozens of hours of television programs they had also watched.”

One of the lessons from this situation, according to Barna, is that major transformation is not likely to result from one-time exposure to a specific media product. “In an environment in which people spend more than 40 hours each week absorbing a range of messages from multiple media, it is rare that a single media experience will radically reorient someone’s life. The greatest impact through media seems to come from constant exposure to a consistent message that is well-presented and is personally meaningful or useful. The passion was well-received and stopped many people long enough to cause them to rethink some of their basic assumptions about life. But within hours those same individuals were exposed to competing messages that began to diminish the effect of what they had seen in Mr. Gibson’s movie. That does not negate the power of the movie or the value of the message it sent, but it does remind us that a single effort that is not adequately reinforced is not likely to make a lasting impression.”

At the same time, Barna also highlighted the power of movies in transforming people’s lives. “Don’t lose sight of the fact that about 13 million adults changed some aspect of their typical religious behavior because of the movie and about 11 million people altered some pre-existing religious beliefs because of the content of that film. That’s enormous influence,” the California-based researcher noted, “and you cannot fault The Passion for not satisfying religious agendas that some people assigned to it. More than any other movie in recent years, The Passion focused people on the person and purpose of Jesus Christ. In a society that revolves on relativism, spiritual diversity, tolerance and independence, galvanizing such intense consideration of Jesus Christ is a major achievement in itself.”

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How “Christianized” Do Americans Want Their Country To Be? (040726)

(Ventura, CA) - America’s ties to the Christian faith have been challenged in recent years through court cases, public policies, political campaigns, educational policies and media content. At the same time, numerous bestselling Christian books and hit movies, combined with the widespread attendance at Christian churches and billions of dollars donated to Christian ministry, suggests that the Christian faith is far from dead in the U.S. despite increases in secularism and postmodernism.

A new nationwide survey by The Barna Group explored the boundaries of how far adults are willing to inject the Christian faith into the nation’s culture. Examining six possible changes in public policy or social activity, the survey reveals that there are tens of millions of Americans who would go as far as supporting a constitutional amendment to declare Christianity the official faith of the United States. At the same time, the survey shows there are also millions who would support a policy permitting the use of the “f-word” on broadcast television. On balance, though, the research shows that an overwhelming majority of Americans want traditional Christian values and symbols to prevail, although most people would stop short of declaring the U.S. to be a Christian society.

Removing the Ten Commandments

Less than one out of every five adults (18%) supports “removing signs that list the Ten Commandments from government buildings.” In contrast, 79% of all adults rejected this policy – including 60% of adults who were “strongly opposed” to removing the Commandments.

The demographic groups most favorable toward this action included Hispanics (21%), men (23%), college graduates (25%) and adults under 35 (25%). The sole subgroup among which more than one out of every four individuals supported such a shift was Asians: 48% of them favored this policy.

The response of faith segments varied more substantially. Less than one-half of one percent of evangelicals favored the elimination of the Ten Commandments from government buildings and just 6% of non-evangelical born again adults and one-sixth of notional Christians (16%) supported such a policy. Catholics and Protestants agree that this policy makes little sense: only 6% of Protestants and 18% of Catholics favor the removal policy. Even a minority (32%) of the Americans aligned with non-Christian faith groups indicated their support. The only faith group among which a majority gave its support was atheists and agnostics: 55% said this was a good idea.

Removing “In God We Trust”

A recent call to remove the phrase “In God We Trust” from the nation’s currency also has very limited public support, even from people who are not Christian in orientation. Overall, only 13% favored eliminating the phrase from currency, while 84% oppose the idea. Nearly three-quarters of the public (72%) are “strongly opposed” to making this change.

Demographically, the greatest support for this change comes from immigrant populations (21% of Hispanics and 37% of Asians) and the non-Christian faith segments (28% of those associated with a non-Christian faith and 37% of atheists and agnostics).

Again, few evangelicals (1%) and non-evangelical born again Christians (4%) supported the idea. Catholics were four times more likely than Protestants to hail the concept (15% versus 4%), but even so only one-seventh of Catholics like the notion.

Removing “One Nation Under God”

When asked to describe their reaction to the possibility of “removing the phrase ‘one nation, under God’ from the Pledge of Allegiance,” this proposal also was widely rejected. Only 15% of adults said they would support the change, compared to 84% who dismissed it.

The only two demographic segments for which even one-fourth sided with this change were the atheists and agnostics (40%) and Asians (38%).

Only 4% of evangelicals and 6% of non-evangelical born again Christians supported this change, with one-eighth of notional Christians (13%) in favor of it. Almost one-quarter of the non-Christian faith adherents (24%) liked the idea. A mere 7% of Protestants and 13% of Catholics bought into this concept.

Creationism in Public Schools

Thousands of public schools around the country do not allow the biblical perspective on the creation process to be taught in their classrooms. The survey shows that most Americans are dismayed by that point-of-view. About six out of every ten adults (59%) favor teaching creationism while less than four out of ten (38%) do not want it added to the public school curriculum content.

Asians were the only subgroup among which a majority opposed teaching creationism. (It is helpful to realize that among the Asians living in the U.S., six out of ten are atheist, agnostic or associated with a non-Christian faith – a combination that is more than double proportion found among other ethnic segments.)

Almost nine out of ten evangelicals (86%) support teaching creationism, along with 70% of non-evangelical born agains and 60% of notional Christians. Most Protestants (69%) and Catholics (59%) support this approach to explaining the genesis of the universe.

Using the “F-word” on Television

Asked how they felt about “allowing the use of the ‘F-word’ on broadcast television,” very few adults supported such permission. Only one out of seven adults (15%) felt allowing the word on broadcast TV was acceptable, while 83% dismissed this as inappropriate.

The largest discrepancies of opinion on this matter related to gender (men were twice as likely as women to approve of using the word on broadcast TV) and age (people under 55 were twice as likely as older adults to favor the use of the word). Asians were twice as likely as other ethnic groups to support this activity (29% versus 14%).

Theolographically, the research showed that less than one-tenth of evangelicals (6%) and non-evangelical born again adults (8%) favored using the word. In contrast, more than twice as many adults associated with non-Christian faiths (21%) and up to six times as many atheists and agnostics (35%) were comfortable with the word being used on broadcast channels. Following the established patterns, Catholics were twice as likely as Protestants (19% versus 9%, respectively) to favor using the term.

Support For Changes in Public Policy, According to Seven Key Faith Groups

	All Adults	Evan gelicals	Non-evan gelical born again	Notional	Non-Christian faith	Atheist/ Agnostic	Protest ant	Cath olic
Remove 10 Commandments	18%	*%	6%	16%	32%	55%	6%	18%
Remove “In God We Trust”	13%	1%	4%	12%	28%	37%	4%	15%
Remove “One nation under God”	15%	4%	6%	13%	24%	40%	7%	13%
Teach creationism	59%	86%	70%	60%	42%	29%	69%	59%
Allow the “F-word” on broadcast TV	15%	6%	8%	17%	21%	35%	9%	19%
Make Christianity the official religion of U.S.	32%	66%	44%	25%	21%	8%	43%	24%

(Base: 1024 adults)

(* indicates less than one-half of one percent.)

Christianity: America’s “Official” Religion

Americans are opposed to “a constitutional amendment to establish Christianity as the official religion of the United States” by a two-to-one margin (66% oppose, 32% in favor). People with a college degree were only half as likely to support this idea as were those who do not have a college degree (19% vs. 37%, respectively).

In fact, the only population segment that was generally supportive of this proposal was evangelicals, who were twice as likely as other adults to support the idea (66%). A slim majority of non-evangelical born again adults (53%) rejected this idea, while large majorities of notional Christians (72%), people of other faiths (77%) and atheists and agnostics (91%) opposed such an amendment.

Reflections on the Findings

The study points out several interesting patterns of belief and behavior, according to George Barna, the Directing Leader of The Barna Group.

“Most Americans are on the same wavelength when it comes to faith and matters of public policy,” the California-based researcher noted. “Most subgroups of the population lean the same way on each of the matters examined, with the exceptions being Asian-Americans and atheists and agnostics.

“Evangelicals, however, also emerged as the group most fervently desirous of integrating a Christian perspective into the basic fabric of American life. The intensity of their commitment to their faith makes them a cultural lightning rod and an easy target for the media. Their depth of commitment often earns them the label ‘extremist’ related to anything pertaining to faith and morality.”

Barna also pointed out the surprisingly large number of people who are supportive of an amendment to declare Christianity the official national faith. “Almost 70 million adults favor such an amendment. That is a huge vote of confidence in the Christian faith – and a tacit statement about people’ concerns regarding the direction and lukewarm spirituality of the nation. If nothing else, this certainly indicates that given effective leadership, American Christianity could play a larger role in shaping the norms of our culture in the future.”

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Ethnic Groups Differ Substantially On Matters of Faith (040810)

(Ventura, CA) - The presidential race is showing how differently the four major ethnic groups in the U.S. deal with life. A new research study from The Barna Group, of Ventura, California indicates that those differences are as significant regarding matters as faith as they are in relation to politics. Based on nationwide surveys among more than 2600 adults, the study concludes that the African-American population is the segment with the most traditional Christian beliefs and practices, and that Asians are generally the least in-tune with Christian perspectives.

The white population of the U.S. is the largest racial group (68%) but also the slowest growing. The fastest growing are the Hispanic (currently 14% of the U.S. population) and Asian populations (4%), with the black population experiencing moderate growth (13%). The overwhelming size of the white population often obscures the significant gaps in belief and practice among the different racial groups.

Matters of Religious Practice

The Barna survey examined eight elements of religious behavior and discovered that blacks were at the high end of religious activity for half of those activities (reading the Bible, praying to God, giving money to churches and watching Christian television). Blacks were also notably less likely than others to be unchurched.

The group that was the least likely to be active in Christian-oriented behaviors was Asians, who generated the lowest scores for all eight religious activities measured. Asians were the least involved in attending church, reading the Bible, praying to God, attending Sunday school, participating in a small group for religious purposes, watching Christian television and who gave the least average amount of money to churches. They were also the group most likely to be unchurched.

Hispanics were the segment most likely to share their faith in Christ with non-believers. In general, Hispanics were below average on most of the religious behaviors examined. They were especially low on the scale regarding the amount of money they donate to churches.

White adults stood out as being neither the highest nor lowest on any of the eight religious behaviors tested.

Religious Beliefs Differ

A dozen belief-oriented measures were studied in the research. Once again, black adults emerged as the segment most likely to parallel Christian or biblical teachings. The African-American segment is the most likely to contend that the Bible is accurate in its teachings, that religious faith is very important in their life, that they have a personal responsibility to evangelize, that Jesus Christ lived a holy life, that divorce except in cases of adultery is sin, and to possess an orthodox biblical view of God.

Interestingly, while blacks are the most likely to be born again (47%, compared to 41% among whites, 29% among Hispanics and just 12% among Asians), they are only half as likely as whites to be evangelical (9% versus 4%, respectively).

Asians were not only the least likely to believe any of the traditional Christian perspectives tested but they were also the most likely to be either atheist/agnostic (20%) or aligned with a non-Christian faith group (at 45%, more than four times the national norm).

Hispanics were more likely than either whites or blacks to reject the idea of the Holy Spirit as a living presence. In general, the religious views of Hispanics were quite similar to those of whites.

Whites were the racial group closest to Asians on two matters: rejecting the accuracy of the Bible and possessing an unorthodox or non-biblical understanding of the nature of God.

Religious Beliefs and Practices, By Race

(Source: The Barna Group, Ventura, CA)

	white	black	Hispanic	Asian
Read the Bible in the last week	36%	59%	39%	20%
Attended religious service in past week	41%	48%	38%	23%
Prayed to God in the past week	81%	91%	86%	46%
Participated in a small group, past week	16%	31%	27%	13%
Bible is totally accurate (strongly agree)	36%	57%	40%	24%
Satan is not a living being (strongly disagree)	30%	27%	30%	14%
Jesus Christ sinned while on earth (strongly disagree)	37%	49%	35%	22%
Born again Christian	41%	47%	29%	12%
Atheist or agnostic	12%	5%	7%	20%
Aligned with a non-christian faith	11%	12%	10%	45%
Subgroup size	1695	330	360	94

Attitudes Influenced by Faith

Given the fact that two-thirds of Asians are either atheist/agnostic or aligned with a non-Christian faith, their distance from traditional Christian thought and behavior is explicable. However, with 85% of Hispanics defining themselves as “Christian,” their reluctance to accept faith influences in cultural experiences is somewhat unexpected. Hispanics were notably less likely than either whites or blacks to support posting the Ten Commandments in public buildings, retaining “In God We Trust” on currency and keeping the phrase “one nation under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. Hispanics are also less likely than whites or blacks to describe themselves as “absolutely committed” to Christianity.

Not surprisingly, blacks were the group most likely to say they are “deeply spiritual” and absolutely committed to their faith.

Overall, however, there was a limited connection between people’s faith practices and beliefs and their positions related to public policy and retaining faith elements in public life.

Outcomes Explained by Church Strength

Upon examining the findings, researcher George Barna noted that these outcomes are consistent with a multi-year research project he recently completed on the interaction between black churches and the lives of black people. “Upon dissecting the role of faith in the lives of black Americans, we discovered that their faith in Christ has empowered millions of blacks to overcome challenges that might otherwise have been debilitating. The local church has been a major source of strength and directive leadership for the black community.” Barna noted that black churches have helped blacks to focus on different values and priorities than those promoted by popular culture. “As a result, millions of blacks have found the inner strength to withstand hardships. Our study identified significant links between black people’s ability to remain spiritually and emotionally strong despite cultural challenges and the kinds of leadership, discipleship development, and extended community provided by effective churches.”

Barna’s just-released book on the relationship of the black church and the life of its people is entitled High Impact African-American Churches. The researcher wrote the book with Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr., an African-American pastor of Hope Christian Church, a large multicultural church in the Washington, D.C. area. Together, Barna and Jackson tie the history of blacks in America to their spiritual journey and reveal both the source of individual strength and community leadership that has enabled the black population to make significant strides over the past century.

“The lessons we learned from studying black churches where people’s lives are being transformed are transferable to any church, in any sector of our culture,” according to Barna. “For instance, we found that the black church emphasis upon and facilitation of authentic worship is something that most people yearn for, but relatively few American churches successfully provide for their people. The ways in which the most effective black churches consistently lead their people into God’s presence are not methods limited to use in the black community, but speak to the desires and responsiveness of all Americans. Similarly, what the great black churches in the U.S. have learned about discipleship, serving the needy, evangelism and stewardship is germane to every church, regardless of its congregation’s make-up.”

Some cultural observers have questioned whether the strategies that affect the lives of Caucasians will have a similar positive impact among different subcultures. Barna reasoned that the question reflects a lack of understanding regarding how people think and behave. “After conducting research for more than two decades, it has become clear to us that people are people. They are created by the same God, possess the same basic and inherent needs, and struggle with the same cultural and spiritual forces. For the most part, there are not distinct white, black, Hispanic or Asian, or Native American solutions to the human dilemma. There are simply biblical solutions to human need and longing. Language and programs may differ, but the basic challenges and responses are amazingly universal. Jesus is Jesus, regardless of your skin color or country of origin.”

When asked to explain the relevance of a study of one racial group to a racially diverse nation, the author of three dozen books on cultural change and religious matters noted that, “What distinguishes blacks in this nation from other racial groups is their more overt need for – and openness to – Jesus in the midst of a culture that until recently has been comparatively unsympathetic to their needs. As the nation’s culture becomes more challenging for people of faith, and as the economic and demographic balance of the nation shifts, the lessons and victories won by black churches will likely serve as a beacon for all ministries in a time of increasing spiritual confusion and searching.”

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Born Again Christians Just As Likely to Divorce As Are Non-Christians (040908)

(Ventura, CA) - Recent legislation, lawsuits and public demonstrations over the legality of gay marriage are just one battlefront regarding the institution of marriage. A new study released by The Barna Group, of Ventura, California, shows that the likelihood of married adults getting divorced is identical among born again Christians and those who are not born again. The study also cited attitudinal data showing that most Americans reject the notion that divorce is a sin.

Based on interviews with a nationally representative sample of 3614 adults, the Barna survey focused on the three-quarters of adults 18 years of age or older who have been married at least once. The study identified those who had been divorced; the age at which they were divorced; how many divorces they have experienced; and the age at which the born again Christians had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. Comparing the ages when divorced adults had accepted Christ and when they underwent their divorce, the researchers were able to determine both the impact of one’s faith commitment on the resilience of the marriage and whether the divorce occurred before or after their born again commitment. The survey also examined whether people believe that divorce is a sin in situations where adultery is not involved.

More Than One-Third Call It Quits

Among all adults 18 and older, three out of four (73%) have been married and half (51%) are currently married. (That does not include the 3% who are presently separated from their marriage partner.) Among those who have been married, more than one out of every three (35%) have also been divorced. One out of every five adults (18%) who has ever been divorced has been divorced multiple times. That represents 7% of all Americans who have been married.

The average age at which people first dissolve their initial marriage tends to be in the early thirties. Among people in their mid-fifties or older, the median age of their first divorce was 34. Among Baby Boomers, millions more of whom are expected to get a divorce within the coming decade, the median age of the first divorce is currently 31. The Barna Group expects the average age of a first divorce among Boomers to be similar to that of the preceding generations by 2015, as the aging members of that generation sustain divorces later in life.

The research revealed that Boomers continue to push the limits regarding the prevalence of divorce. Whereas just one-third (33%) of the married adults from the preceding two generations had experienced a divorce, almost half of all married Boomers (46%) have already undergone a marital split. This means Boomers are virtually certain to become the first generation for which a majority experienced a divorce.

It appears that the generation following the Boomers will reach similar heights, since more than one-quarter of the married Baby Busters (27%) have already undergone a divorce, despite the fact that the youngest one-fifth of that generation has not even reached the average age of a first marriage.

Christians Have Same Incidence of Divorce

Although many Christian churches attempt to dissuade congregants from getting a divorce, the research confirmed a finding identified by Barna a decade ago (and further confirmed through tracking studies conducted each year since): born again Christians have the same likelihood of divorce as do non-Christians.

Among married born again Christians, 35% have experienced a divorce. That figure is identical to the outcome among married adults who are not born again: 35%.

George Barna noted that one reason why the divorce statistic among non-Born again adults is not higher is that a larger proportion of that group cohabits, effectively side-stepping marriage – and divorce – altogether. “Among born again adults, 80% have been married, compared to just 69% among the non-born again segment. If the non-born again population were to marry at the same rate as the born again group, it is likely that their divorce statistic would be roughly 38% - marginally higher than that among the born again group, but still surprisingly similar in magnitude.”

Barna also noted that he analyzed the data according to the ages at which survey respondents were divorced and the age at which those who were Christian accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. “The data suggest that relatively few divorced Christians experienced their divorce before accepting Christ as their savior,” he explained. “If we eliminate those who became Christians after their divorce, the divorce figure among born again adults drops to 34% - statistically identical to the figure among non-Christians.” The researcher also indicated that a surprising number of Christians experienced divorces both before and after their conversion.

Multiple divorces are also unexpectedly common among born again Christians. Barna’s figures show that nearly one-quarter of the married born agains (23%) get divorced two or more times.

The survey showed that divorce varied somewhat by a person’s denominational affiliation. Catholics were substantially less likely than Protestants to get divorced (25% versus 39%, respectively). Among the largest Protestant groups, those most likely to get divorced were Pentecostals (44%) while Presbyterians had the fewest divorces (28%).

Is Divorce A Sin?

Although Bible scholars and teachers point out that Jesus taught that divorce was a sin unless adultery was involved, few Americans buy that notion. Only one out of every seven adults (15%) strongly agreed with the statement “when a couple gets divorced without one of them having committed adultery, they are committing a sin.” A similar percentage (16%) moderately agreed with the statement. The vast majority – 66% – disagreed with the statement, most of them strongly dismissing the notion.

Faith perspectives made a difference in people’s views on this matter – but not as much as might have expected. Born again adults were twice as likely as non-born agains (24% vs. 10%) to strongly affirm this statement. However, a majority of the born again group (52%) disagreed that divorce without adultery is sin. Three-quarters of all non-born again adults (74%) disagreed with the statement.

A majority of both Protestants (58%) and Catholics (69%) disagreed that divorce without adultery involved in the commission of sin.

There was no difference in point-of-view on this matter across the generational groups. The largest difference among subgroups of the population was between blacks and whites. Just half of the black segment (49%) disagreed with the survey statement compared to seven out of ten white adults (70%). Hispanics were in-between those extremes (64% disagreed.)

No End In Sight

Barna stated that there is no end in sight regarding divorce. “You can understand why atheists and agnostics might have a high rate of divorce, since they are less likely to believe in concepts such as sin, absolute moral truth and judgment. Yet the survey found that the percentage of atheists and agnostics who have been married and divorced is 37% - very similar to the numbers for the born again population. Given the current growth in the number of atheists and agnostics, and that the younger two generations are predisposed to divorce, we do not anticipate a reversal of the present pattern within the next decade.”

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Catholic Vote May Tip the Scales for Bush (040927)

(Ventura, CA) - In May of this year, the presidential contest between George W. Bush and John Kerry was a toss-up. Surveys by The Barna Group in May 2004 indicated that among registered voters the race was a 43%-43% dead heat. At that time President Bush held a significant but tiny 49% to 44% lead among people likely to vote in November.

A new survey shows that among likely voters the President’s lead has grown from a five-point margin to eight points (48% versus 40%). However, one of the major changes since May is that more likely voters are currently undecided as to whom they will vote for, now comprising 10% of the likely voters, up from just 2% in May. While President Bush’s lead is statistically significant, there are enough undecided voters and “leaners” – i.e., another 8% of likely voters who have a candidate preference at this time but are not “certain” they will support that candidate in November – that the election remains up for grabs.

Major Shift Among Catholics

One of the big stories of the campaign is the seismic shift in preference among Catholic voters. Almost one out of every four likely voters (23%) is Catholic. In May, John Kerry held a small lead over President Bush, 48% to 43%. In the ensuing four months, however, a myriad of events have stimulated a reversal among Catholics. Currently, President Bush holds a commanding 53% to 36% lead over the Massachusetts Senator among Catholics who are likely to vote. That represents a 22-point shift in preference in just four months.

Equally surprising, among Protestants who are likely to vote in November, President Bush has seen his 24-point lead over the challenger cut in half at the same time that his fortunes have reversed among Catholics. Since May, Mr. Kerry has picked up a small degree of support among Protestants (from 35% up to 38%) while President Bush has lost significant ground among Protestants (dropping from 59% to 50%). In total, that’s a 12-point drop in support for the President.

It is noteworthy that President Bush, whose faith has become a high-profile issue in this campaign, is Protestant while Senator Kerry is Catholic.

Christian Vote Is Crucial to Bush

The significance of the faith factor cannot be overlooked in Campaign 2004. President Bush’s strongest support comes from evangelical Christians who are likely to vote: 90% of them plan to vote for the incumbent while only 2% plan to support Mr. Kerry. Non-evangelical born again Christians, who constitute about two-fifths of the likely voters, also strongly favor Mr. Bush (54% to 36%). Together, all born again Christians (evangelical and non-evangelical combined) are estimated to provide about half of the votes cast in November.

The preferences are entirely different among other individuals, however. Likely voters who are aligned with a faith other than Christianity prefer Mr. Kerry by a 2-to-1 margin. Likely voters who are atheist or agnostic also side with the Senator by a 2-to-1 ratio. Notional Christians – that is, individuals who consider themselves to be Christian but are not born again – also choose Mr. Kerry, 49% to 37%.

Among adults who are most likely to vote in the election – determined according to a weighted formula based on their past voting behavior, interest in this election, and certainty of casting a ballot in November – evangelicals are likely to be 10% of the electorate; non-evangelical born again Christians will be 39%; notional Christians, 38%; people of non-Christian faiths are expected to represent 8%; and atheists and agnostics are estimated to be 5% of November’s voters.

Motivations for Support Differ Radically

The dominant “issue” in this election is neither policy positions nor ideology, but George W. Bush.

When likely voters who support Mr. Bush were asked why they support him, one-third cited his leadership abilities (35%), nearly as many identified his character (29%) and just one-fifth mentioned his policies or views on issues (19%).

In contrast, John Kerry’s supporters are just as likely to be anti-Bush as they are to be pro-Kerry. The dominant reason given by Kerry supporters for their choice is that “he is not George Bush,” a reason listed by 43% of the likely voters backing Mr. Kerry. Only one-quarter said they support him because of his policies or views (26%), and small numbers cited his leadership skills (12%) or character (4%).

Evangelicals emerged as the subgroup of likely voters most driven to support President Bush because of his character (56%).

The Faith Factor Looms Large

Besides the support President Bush draws from the Christian community, the Barna survey also pointed out other significant results related to faith. Among those findings were:

·People who had read from the Bible during the past seven days, other than at church, are both more likely to vote. They are also more likely to support President Bush (42% vs. 31% for Mr. Kerry).

·People who had attended a church worship service during the past seven days are both more likely to vote. They are also more likely to support President Bush (47% compared to 26% of church attenders who back Mr. Kerry).

·People who had discussed a moral issue with someone during the past seven days are both more likely to vote and more likely to support President Bush (41% vs. 34%).

·People who had turned off a television program they were watching during the past seven days because of the morals and values it presented are both more likely to vote and more likely to support President Bush (45% vs. 29%).

·The larger the church of the likely voter, the more likely he/she is to vote in November. In churches with less than 200 people, 41% are likely to vote, compared to 53% in churches of 200-499 adults, 61% in churches of 500-999 adults, and 63% in churches of 1000 or more adults.

·The larger the church of the likely voter, the more likely he/she is to vote for President Bush in November. In churches with less than 200 people, 47% are likely to vote for George Bush, compared to 65% in churches of 1000 or more adults.

·Evangelicals and non-evangelical born again Christians are substantially more likely than other faith segments to vote in November.

·Adults who have an “active faith” – that is, they have attended a church service, read the Bible outside of church and prayed to God during the past seven days – are not only one-third more likely to vote than other Americans, but they are also likely to support President Bush by a 3-to-1 margin (65% versus 20%).

People of Faith Hold the Key

The outcome of November’s election is in the hands of Christians, according to George Barna, the survey director. “Given the higher propensity to turnout on November 2 among evangelical and born again Christians, and their margin of preference for Mr. Bush, simply maintaining his support among those segments and among Catholics, and receiving a proportional split among the undecideds will win Mr. Bush a second term in the White House.”

Asked to explain the reason for the rapid shift in support from Mr. Kerry to Mr. Bush during the summer months, Barna indicated that it was the result of a comprehensive consideration of each candidate. “That swing is attributable to an encompassing assessment by many Catholics of the leadership abilities, character, and policy stands of both men. We found that party identification and other matters had little to do with the reassessment of both candidates. Many of the Catholics now behind Mr. Bush have traditionally voted Democratic, but have chosen a different course this time around.”

Barna cautioned observers to remember that much can happen in the remaining five weeks of the campaign. “Nobody saw the huge transitions coming that occurred over the past two months. With campaign spending, candidate appearances and the debates coming up soon, and the continuing saga of forged documents, it is possible that some voters who were ‘certain’ regarding their candidate of preference could switch their allegiance.

“Just as critical,” the researcher commented, “is the rate of voter turnout on November 2. The Bush campaign must be wary that their support base does not become overconfident of victory and fail to show up at the polls – an outcome that our surveys show is possible. This is likely to be a close enough election that a significant deviation in turnout rates – for either the Bush or Kerry campaign – could alter the result of the election.”

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Evangelism Is Most Effective Among Kids (041011)

(Ventura, CA) - The presidential election has focused attention on the born again population of the country. Currently representing 38% of all adults and one-third of all teenagers, there are an estimated 98 million adults and children who have accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. A substantial majority of the people who accept Jesus Christ as their savior do so before reaching their 18th birthday. This insight comes from a new research study from The Barna Group, based on interviews with 992 born again Christians nationwide. The survey also revealed that young people respond more positively to different outreach influences than do people who embrace Christ later in life.

Most Christians Were Young When Saved

For years, church leaders have heard the claim that nearly nine out of ten Christians accept Jesus as their savior before the age of 18. If that statistic was accurate in the past, it no longer depicts U.S. society. The current Barna study indicates that nearly half of all Americans who accept Jesus Christ as their savior do so before reaching the age of 13 (43%), and that two out of three born again Christians (64%) made that commitment to Christ before their 18th birthday. One out of eight born again people (13%) made their profession of faith while 18 to 21 years old. Less than one out of every four born again Christians (23%) embraced Christ after their twenty-first birthday. Barna noted that these figures are consistent with similar studies it has conducted during the past twenty years.

The survey data show that Catholics who become born again are even more likely than Protestants to do so before reaching high school. Among those currently associated with a Catholic church and who are born again, two out of three (66%) accepted Christ before age 13; one-fifth (21%) did so from 13 to 21; and the remaining 13% made that decision as an adult. In contrast, born again people aligned with a Protestant church make that choice at an older age: 40% did so as children, 35% during the 13-to-21-age span, and one-quarter (25%) as adults.

Means to Salvation Vary By Age of Commitment

The precipitating event for someone to accept Christ as his or her savior varied by the age of the individual making that spiritual commitment.

For instance, among Christians who embraced Christ before their teen years, half were led to Christ by their parents, with another one in five led by some other friend or relative. Comparatively few accepted Jesus in response to a minister’s personal prompting (7%) and only one out of eight cited a special event as the turning point in their journey. Among those who mentioned events, about half identified a church service. Just 1% mentioned media evangelism or other special situations as being responsible for their conversion.

Among people who accepted Christ when they were age 13 through 21, the process was much more diverse. One out of five credited a friend with bringing them to Christ, and a similar proportion said their parents were responsible for their decision. One-fifth also recalled an event as the trigger for their commitment. One-sixth of the people saved as teens (16%) listed a relative other than their parent as the primary influencer. Ministers were cited by one out of every ten Christians who accepted Christ during the 13-to-21-age bracket, while media and special personal situations were listed by only 1%.

Adults who accepted Christ as their savior generally responded to different stimuli than did younger people. The most common precipitant was a friend (19%), followed by mass media experiences (14%), a live event (14%) or a relative (13%). Ministers were responsible for leading one out of every ten adult converts to Christ while parents of adults were named as the evangelistic influence by one in twelve (8%) of these believers.

Age of Acceptance Impacts Faith

The research indicates that the age at which a person accepts Christ as savior is related to various attributes of their spiritual life.

People who become Christian before their teen years are more likely than those who are converted when older to remain “absolutely committed” to Christianity. However, they are also less likely to believe that a profession of faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to get to Heaven and they are less prone to watch Christian television. While they are just as likely as other believers to share their faith in Christ with non-Christians, they are less likely to do so through exploratory dialogue with their friends.

Americans who embraced Christ during their high school or college years (i.e., ages 13 through 21) are less likely than other believers to describe themselves as “deeply spiritual.” They donate substantially less money to churches than do other Christians, are less likely to be charismatic or Pentecostal, and are less likely to engage in lifestyle evangelism. Hispanics are much more likely than are people from other ethnic groups to come to Christ during these years: half of all Hispanics who are born again made their commitment to Christ during this time frame, compared to just one-third of all whites and blacks.

Those who accepted Christ as savior during their adult years are notably different from their younger-faith peers. Theologically, they are a mixed bag. They are less likely to have a biblical view of God, less likely to believe that divorce without an instance of adultery is sin, and more likely to believe the Bible is accurate in its teaching and that both Christians and Muslims believe in the same God.

Further, individuals who embraced Christ after their 21st birthday are only half as likely as other believers to be unchurched. These people are not only more likely to contend that they have a responsibility to share their faith, but use a wider variety of methods to convey the gospel message. They are also more likely to consume Christian media, are more apt to attend church services and read the Bible in a typical week, and are more likely than other Christians to be politically conservative.

Sharing the Christian Faith

The survey discovered that slightly more than half of all born again adults shared their faith in Christ with others during the past twelve months. That represents roughly 43 million evangelizers. A series of studies conducted by Barna regarding evangelistic efforts portrays those efforts as a mixture of methods designed to reach different people in different ways.

The most popular methods of evangelizing are praying for others’ salvation (undertaken by 43%), living in such a way as to encourage questions about their faith (40% engaged in “lifestyle evangelism”) and interactive conversations about moral and life issues that hopefully lead to spiritual conclusions (38%). Less common approaches included bringing non-Christians to church services (27% had done so), challenging a non-believers’ behavior on biblical grounds and suggesting alternatives (27%), bringing non-believers to evangelistic events (24%) and handing out evangelistic literature (19%). The least widely used forms of outreach included sending letters or e-mail that encourage readers to accept Christ (sent by 11% of believers) and public preaching (6%).

Perspectives on the Conversion Process

George Barna underscored some significant insights from this research. “Just as our nation’s culture has changed dramatically in the last 30 years, so has the way in which people come to Christ,” he explained. “The weekend church service is no longer the primary mechanism for salvation decisions; only one out of every ten believers who makes a decision to follow Christ does so in a church setting or service. On the other hand, personal relationships have become even more important in evangelism, with a majority of salvation decisions coming in direct response to an invitation given by a family member or friend.”

The California-based author also pointed out some of the challenges faced by those who come to Christ later in their life. “Notice that when someone is born again during their adult years, their beliefs are an inconsistent blend of biblical and non-biblical ideas that lead to some unusual lifestyles and some questionable evangelistic explanations. However, those adult converts are also more likely to be involved in church activities and to be serious about sharing their faith with non-believers.”

Perhaps the most significant outcome of the research, in Barna’s eyes, is the prevalence of decisions made during childhood. “Families, churches and parachurch ministries must recognize that primary window of opportunity for effectively reaching people with the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection is during the pre-teen years. It is during those years that people develop their frames of reference for the remainder of their life – especially theologically and morally. Consistently explaining and modeling truth principles for young people is the most critical factor in their spiritual development.”

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Americans Agree: Kids Are Not Being Prepared for Life (041026)

(Ventura, CA) - The presidential election season has brought to light numerous issues on which the nation’s population is divided. According to a new survey from The Barna Group, however, there is one issue on which most adults agree: the nation’s children are not being adequately prepared for life.

Based on interviews with more than 1000 adults nationwide, the survey discovered that less than one out of every five adults believes that children under the age of 13 are being “superbly” or “pretty well” prepared for life emotionally, physically, spiritually, intellectually or physically. Fewer than one out of every twenty adults believe that America’s youngsters are receiving above average preparation in all five of those areas of life.

Moral and Spiritual Development Lags the Most

Adults were asked to evaluate how well children under the age of 13 are being prepared for life in each of five dimensions. Using a scale that ranged from “superbly” to “poorly,” half or more of all adults contended that children are “not being prepared well enough” or are “poorly prepared” for the life that awaits them in relation to each of the five dimensions tested.

Adults feel most confident in the intellectual preparation that children receive these days. However, just 18% said kids are prepared “superbly” or “pretty well” in the intellectual dimension. In comparison, half of all adults said kids are “not prepared well enough” or are “poorly prepared” intellectually to effectively grapple with life.

Physical development generated a similar response pattern. One-sixth of adults (16%) felt that children were being superbly or pretty well prepared physically, while a slight majority (54%) felt they were not being prepared well enough or were being poorly prepared physically.

Adults indicated that children are faring somewhat worse in the area of emotional preparation: only 12% gave positive ratings compared 62% offering a negative assessment.

The lowest ratings, however, were reserved for the moral and spiritual preparation of children. Only 8% of adults said kids get better-than-adequate preparation in the spiritual realm, while more than 7-out-of-10 adults (71%) said children get inadequate spiritual training. Similarly, 8% said kids get above average moral preparation while three-fourths said youngsters get inadequate moral preparation.

Americans Agree: Kids Are Not Being Prepared for Life

(Source: The Barna Group, Ventura, CA)

	All Adults		Born Again		Not Born Again
	Well	Not Well	Well	Not Well	Well	Not Well
Intellectually	18%	50%	16%	54%	19%	47%
Physically	16	54	14	57	18	52
Emotionally	12	62	10	69	13	57
Spiritually	8	71	5	84	9	61
Morally	8	75	6	84	9	68
Base	1011	417	594

(Notes: “Well” includes those who say children under 13 are being prepared “superbly” or “pretty well”; “Not well” reflects those who say they are being prepared for life “not well enough” or “poorly.” The balance represents those who said children are being prepared “adequately.”)

Subgroups Differ In Their Views

Unexpectedly, men and women held nearly identical views on these matters. Perhaps an even greater surprise was the similarity of views between parents of young children and the views of adults who do not have children in their household. Another eye opener was that the differences in perspective across generations were minimal. Baby Busters (ages 21 through 39) were slightly less likely than were older adults to criticize the intellectual training children receive. Baby Boomers (ages 40 through 58) were more likely than other age groups to critique the physical preparation children receive these days. Otherwise, there were no significant distinctions across generational groups.

Liberals and conservatives were both more concerned about the preparation children receive than were those who have a middle-of-the-road perspective. Conservatives were notably less impressed with the preparation children get than were liberals in regard to moral and spiritual development. There was a 15-point gap separating the two segments in relation to moral development and a 22-point distinction related to spiritual preparation.

The most consistent disparities in viewpoints related to people’s faith experience. Evangelicals were the population group most likely to describe the moral, spiritual and emotional preparation of children as inadequate. Notional Christians, on the other hand – i.e., adults who consider themselves to be Christian but are not born again – were among those least likely to say that children are inadequately equipped in the areas of emotional, intellectual, physical and moral development. (Atheists and agnostics were the adults least critical of the spiritual preparation children receive.)

Protestants and Catholics diverged in some of their views on these matters. Protestants were substantially less satisfied with the preparation that children receive in the emotional, spiritual and moral aspects of life.

There was also a noteworthy difference between married born again adults and adults who are married but not born again. The married born again adults were more likely to be dissatisfied with the preparation children receive in each of the five areas examined. The biggest gaps were related to emotional preparation (51% of the non-born again married adults were dissatisfied compared to 69% of the married born agains); moral preparation (68% versus 87%, respectively); and spiritual development (59% versus 86%, respectively).

Everyone’s Waiting For Someone Else

The survey findings indicate that parents feel they are being let down by society. In his analysis of the data, George Barna noted that the same people who are anguished about the mediocre support that children receive – i.e., parents – are the ones primarily responsible for the problem. “Parents alone may be incapable of fully equipping their children in every area of life,” the survey’s director explained, “but the common strategy of waiting for social institutions to provide whatever their children need is seriously flawed. The family is obliged to invest in the life preparation of their own children. Passing youngsters off to agencies ought to be a secondary option, not the primary means through which values, skills and perspectives are developed. And when parents lean on institutions for help in this process, unless parents hold those institutions accountable, the quality of life preparation that our nation’s children receive will continue to fail to meet even the most modest standards.”

Barna cited data from a companion study his company conducted showing that most parents of children under 13 claim that they are responsible for the moral, spiritual, intellectual and emotional maturation of their offspring. However, the study also showed most parents lack defined standards for evaluating their child’s preparation, spend surprisingly little time engaged in developmental activities with their children, and generally assume that the brunt of the responsibility for facilitating life skills and perspectives lies on the shoulders of schools, churches and community organizations. Combined with the increasingly busy schedules of adults, the result is a culture in which nobody is responsible and nearly everybody is dissatisfied with the results.

“Ultimately, children get neglected because parents rely upon everyone else to do their job for them,” Barna stated. “The popular notion that ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ has become an accepted excuse for millions of parents to assign away the commitment for their child’s development. Families may not be able to provide everything that a child needs to be successfully launched into today’s world, but they can do a lot more than they are seeking to provide today. Rather than play victim and blame social institutions for inadequate performance of duties, millions of families would be well-advised to rearrange their priorities and reclaim their commitment to preparing their children for life.”

Barna also connected some of his recent research regarding the forthcoming presidential election with the current study on the needs of children. “The election has led millions of people to identify what they feel are the major issues facing the nation, and how each of the major candidates plans to address those issues. In that light, it’s intriguing that comparatively few adults have identified the plight of children as one of the key issues requiring greater attention,” noted the California-based researcher. “The major concerns listed by voters pertain to their own needs and dreams. What does it say about our society when we admit that our children are being set up for failure, but we do not incorporate that challenge among the most pressing issues facing the nation? Even if government policies and programs are not the ultimate solution, you would expect adults to integrate the needs of children into the dialogue regarding the future of our country.”

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Born Again Christians Were a Significant Factor in President Bush’s Re-Election (041109)

(Ventura, CA) - Most of President Bush’s supporters did at least two things during the first week of November: they voted to re-elect the President and they went to church. The acclaimed “values voters” turned out in huge numbers on Election Day to support the incumbent and thereby prevent a replay of the 2000 cliffhanger outcome. Had it not been for the unusually high turnout among voters driven by religious convictions, the results might have been different, according to a new nationwide survey by The Barna Group.

Christians Push Bush Over the Top

Overall, born again Christians supported President George W. Bush by a 62% to 38% margin. In contrast, non-born again voters supported Senator John Kerry by an almost identical 59% to 39% division. The difference was in the rates of turnout of each segment. Although the born again population constitutes just 38% of the national population, it represented 53% of the vote cast in the election. If the born again public had shown up proportional to its population size, Senator Kerry would have won the election by the same three-point margin of victory enjoyed by Mr. Bush.

Evangelicals not only turned out in large numbers; they also gave Mr. Bush an overwhelming endorsement. Although they are just 7% of the voting-aged population, evangelicals constituted 11% of the voters and chose President Bush by an 85% to 15% margin. Non-evangelical born again Christians, who cast a substantial 42% of all votes, sided with the incumbent by a 56% to 44% outcome. The combination of those two Christian voting blocs produced a 62% majority among all born again voters.

Protestants and Catholics Shift Allegiance

In the 2000 election, Catholics were more likely to side with Al Gore than with George W. Bush, with 49% voting for the Democrat Gore and 44% selecting the Republican Bush as their favored candidate. In this year’s race, however, the Catholic vote was evenly split. This indicates that President Bush did not hold on to all of the Catholic support he generated during the campaign, but he was able to increase his Catholic constituency enough to ensure the win this time around.

Protestant voters, on the other hand, increased their support for the President from a slim 51% to 47% tally in 2000 to a more comfortable 57% to 42% landslide in 2004. Turnout among Protestants was significant, rising from 56% of the vote total in 2000 to 62% of the turnout in 2004. In comparison, the percentage of the total votes that were cast by Catholics remained unchanged (24%).

Ethnic Believers Move Toward Bush

One of the most significant shifts since the 2000 election related to the preferences of ethnic voters. Traditionally aligned with Democratic presidential candidates, African Americans remained firmly associated with that party, supplying the challenger a whopping 87% to 13% mandate. However, a key comparison is the shift over the past four years among born again blacks. In 2000, this segment rallied behind Mr. Gore by a 92% to 7% margin. In the current election, the margin of preference was reduced to 85% to 15%. That reflects a doubling of the percentage of the black born again vote delivered to Mr. Bush.

Similarly, tastes have changed among Hispanic voters. Although Hispanics gave Al Gore a 2-to-1 margin of preference in 2000, they were less enthusiastic about Senator Kerry’s candidacy in 2004, giving him a 53% to 45% vote of confidence this year. However, when born again Hispanics are examined, President Bush was the favored candidate by a 56% to 44% differential. Among all Hispanic voters who made it to the polls, those who were born again constituted 5% of the total vote and 48% of the Hispanic voters. That is an unexpectedly high turnout among the born again segment since only four out of ten Hispanics are born again.

White born again voters, however, were the ethnic group that gave the President the biggest lift. In total, 72% of this segment backed the Republican candidate while only 27% supported the Democratic challenger. Nearly four out of every ten votes counted (39%) came from a white born again adult.

Bush Wins Born Agains of All Ages

As expected, young adults voted heavily for Senator Kerry. Voters under 30 awarded him 60% of their votes. However, when the entire Baby Bust generation is studied – that is, people of ages from 21 to 39 – President Bush received a slight majority (51%, compared to Senator Kerry’s 48%). The Texan also won among Baby Boomers (55% to 44%) and among Elders (i.e., people 59 or older, 51% versus 48%).

Faith was a factor even across generations. Among born again Busters, Mr. Bush defeated Mr. Kerry 62% to 38%. The difference was even more robust among born again Boomers (Bush 68% to Kerry 32%), and slightly larger than the 59% to 40% margin won among born again Elders.

Religious Convictions Emerge

Other indicators of religious conviction demonstrated President Bush’s appeal to the Christian community. For instance, 61% of the people who regularly attend religious services voted for him, compared to just 30% of the vote among unchurched adults. Similarly, those who described themselves as “committed Christians” chose the incumbent by a 60% to 39% margin; those who said they were “deeply spiritual” preferred the President by a 58% to 41% gap; and voters who said they were “concerned about the moral condition of the nation” registered a 55% Bush vote.

Adults who have an “active faith” – that is, in the past week they had attended a church service, prayed to God, and read the Bible outside of church – also provided the President with a 2-to-1 margin of preference (67% to 33%).

Other Election Insights

The Barna survey also discovered other intriguing insights into the re-election of President Bush.

» Seven out of ten people who voted for Mr. Bush (69%) had decided to support him at the time he announced he was running for re-election. In contrast, less than half of Mr. Kerry’s supporters (48%) said they were supporters upon his announcement.

» Mr. Kerry fared much better than Mr. Bush did in televised public events. Whereas Mr. Bush picked up 16% of his eventual supporters thanks to the Republican convention or the debates, Mr. Kerry won over 33% of his enthusiasts in response to the Democratic convention or the presidential debates.

» The final two weeks of the campaign were Bush friendly. During the final 14 days, Mr. Bush won 52% of the undecided voters while Mr. Kerry gleaned 47%.

» During the past year, nearly one out of every four voters switched from one candidate to the other – and those realignments were evenly divided. People who switched from Bush to Kerry were largely Protestant (67%), born again (65%), regular church-goers (77%) and non-white (48%). Those who jumped ship to side with the Bush candidacy were typically married (66%), born again (55%), weekly church-goers (71%), and self-described “committed Christian” adults (76%). Only 23% of those moving from Kerry to Bush were non-white.

» The constituencies in which switching candidates was most likely included Catholics (15% realigned during the campaign), Baby Busters (16%), Hispanics (19%), and Independent voters (21%). The voter segments least likely to switch horses included unchurched adults (only 7% moved) and Republicans (6%, just half as many as among Democrats).

» The dominant reasons given by voters for their candidate selection differed greatly. Bush backers were most likely to identify the President’s character (33%) or his views on national security as their impetus for support. Mr. Kerry’s enthusiasts were most likely to cite the fact that he was not George Bush (24%), with others mentioning the Senator’s stand on Iraq (17%) or the fact that he was a Democrat (12%).

Historical Perspective

The election reflects the most cohesive outpouring of support from the born again community in quite some time, according to researcher George Barna. “In 1996, born again adults gave Mr. Dole a slim 49% to 42% margin of preference against Mr. Clinton. In 2000, they awarded Mr. Bush a 15-point margin. They upped the ante this time, giving Mr. Bush a 24-point margin. Upon examining their reasons for doing so, it is clear that they were more interested in the character of the candidate and the worldview that forms the basis of his decision-making than they were in specific issues. In fact, relatively few voters seemed to be driven by issues, regardless of which candidate they embraced. This election was more of a statement about people’s feelings toward George W. Bush as a leader and as a person than it was about a particular issue.”

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Americans Describe Sources of Spiritual Fulfillment and Frustration (041129)

(Ventura, CA) - Change is hard for most people. Deciding what and how to change spiritually is apparently no easier for people than it is in any other area of their life, according to a new national survey by The Barna Group, of Ventura, California. The study discovered that about half of the adult population is able to identify something in their spiritual life they would be willing to change, and many of those ideas are quite general in nature.

Spiritual Satisfaction

Eight out of every nine adults (87%) is able to identify an activity that they say brings them the greatest degree of spiritual satisfaction or fulfillment. No particular activity or effort was named by more than one out of every four individuals as providing such satisfaction. The most common effort was attending church services and events, which 23% named as the most fulfilling spiritual activity in their life. Half as many (12%) indicated that spending time with their family produces the greatest sense of spiritual satisfaction, while the same proportion (12%) mentioned any of a variety of creative and leisure endeavors as their greatest source of spiritual fulfillment. Those outlets included engaging in music, art, or other creative media; participating in sports or hobbies; secluded meditation; and enjoying nature.

One out of every eleven adults (9%) identified prayer as the most fulfilling spiritual activity they undertake, while Bible reading was named by 7% and helping other people was listed by 6%. Interestingly, just 3% mentioned the maintenance or enjoyment of their relationship with God as their greatest source of spiritual fulfillment and only 1% said their relationships with other believers was their source. Less than one percent listed worshipping God as their means of fulfillment, and a similarly miniscule number claimed that leading someone to Christ was their major source of satisfaction.

Spiritual Change

Although most adults (62%) consider themselves to be “deeply spiritual,” nearly half of the public (46%) is satisfied enough with their spiritual condition that they have no aspects of their spirituality that they would like to change. The proportion of adults with no specific changes in mind ranged from two-thirds of atheists and agnostics (67%) and six out of ten adherents of non-Christian faiths (58%) to a low of just 13% of evangelical Christians who were unable to list a single facet of their faith dimension that they would change. Like evangelicals, born again Christians were less likely than average to mention that there were no spiritual factors they would alter in their life (33%), which compares to 58% among adults who are not born again.

Among the one-half of adults who would like to enhance their spiritual make-up, the desired transformations varied greatly in nature, resulting in no single change being listed by more than one out of every eight people.

The most commonly noted shift was the desire to be more heavily involved in a church. That was named by 12% all adults – almost all of them already active in a church or religious center. The next most prominent transition, suggested by 7%, was a desire to be more devoted to spiritual things, ranging from the stated need for more time to devote to spiritual matters to developing a deeper or stronger faith in God.

Beyond that, 5% said they would like to figure out how to be a better person, and another 5% mentioned more knowledge or reading of the Bible as their top priority for spiritual change. Having a better prayer life was offered by 4%, while 3% gave each of a trio of alternatives: doing God’s will or being more Christ-like, being closer to God, and having a more dynamic faith experience with their family. There were no other transitions listed by 3% or more of the population.

Different Groups Have Different Ideas

Several attitudinal patterns were evident in the survey data. For instance, men were twice as likely as women to say there was nothing in particular that gave them a sense of spiritual fulfillment. Other population segments that were comparatively more likely to not specify anything that produced spiritual fulfillment in their life included Hispanics, self-defined liberals, and residents of the western states.

Evangelicals were three times more likely than other adults to suggest that reading or knowing the Bible gives them their greatest spiritual satisfaction, while the non-evangelical population was six times more likely to indicate that spending time with family (in either religious or non-religious pursuits) was the dominant source of spiritual fulfillment.

Age differences also emerged. Adults 40 years of age or older were almost 40% more likely than younger adults to cite church involvement as a source of spiritual fulfillment. The younger adults were also highly unlikely to mention fellowship with other adherents of their faith as satisfying but were somewhat more likely to list prayer as their most common path to spiritual satisfaction.

Black adults were twice as likely as whites and three times as likely as Hispanics to list reading or knowing the Bible as their top route to spiritual fulfillment.

Church size also affected the responses generated. Adults attending churches of 100 or fewer people were the least likely to identify church participation or prayer as their most certain means to spiritual fulfillment, and they were more likely than others to suggest that creative and leisure endeavors (such as creative arts, sports, nature, and hobbies) were their greatest source of spiritual fulfillment. People who attend churches of 500 or more adults were more than 50% more likely to mention prayer as their source of fulfillment than were adults who attend smaller congregations.

Regarding the single aspect of spiritual change most desired, born again Christians differed substantially from non-born again adults. The born again segment was significantly more likely to list traditional spiritual disciplines such as Bible reading, prayer and leading a Christ-like life. Those transformations were named by 21% of the born again crowd, but by only 4% of other adults. (Among evangelicals, a subset of the born again public, those three shifts were listed by 46%!)

Protestants and Catholics have clearly divergent ideas regarding spiritual change. A majority of Catholics had no specifics they wanted to alter, compared to only four out of ten Protestants who failed to identify a specific change. Protestants were also three times more likely than Catholics to name Bible knowledge, prayer, being more Christ-like or being closer to God. Catholics, on the other hand, were somewhat more likely to list increased family-oriented faith experiences.

Unexpectedly, adults under 40 were much more likely than older adults to say they desire more involvement in or connection to a church.

Challenges Regarding Spiritual Growth

The response patterns in the survey prompted the survey director, George Barna, to question people’s commitment to faith development. “Americans are busy people and have no qualms about admitting that they find it difficult to successfully juggle all the pieces of their life. However, when close to half of all adults say there is nothing they would change about their spiritual life in order to optimize their faith fulfillment, and another quarter gives general answers such as going to church more often or having more time to integrate spiritual activities into their life, one could easily conclude that most Americans have no plan for spiritual advancement and are not exerting much effort to grow in their faith,” the researcher noted.

Barna related the findings of this research to other studies he has conducted this year that have shown that most Americans are ill-schooled in the content of the Bible; they do not believe they have experienced the presence of God in the past year; they have not been instrumental in assisting another person in significant spiritual growth; and that less than one out of every five churched adults has any process or system designed for spiritual accountability. “It is curious how few adults seem to have criteria that help them evaluate their spiritual standing and development,” he stated. “For instance, the people who do not pray showed the least inclination to increase their prayer activity. Individuals who are not actively serving needy people were lowest in desiring to be more active in helping other people. Adults who lack biblical perspectives on various principles we tested were also the people least likely to desire greater Bible knowledge.

“More often, people expressed an interest in increasing the degree of the spiritual activities in which they presently engage. In other words, they have little interest in expanding their spiritual life to be more well-rounded and robust. Instead, most adults would like to become more proficient in one or two spiritual dimensions in which they are already active.”

Barna indicated that he hopes this information will enable religious leaders to help individuals evaluate their spiritual strengths and weaknesses more accurately, and to encourage people to broaden their spiritual growth efforts. “The survey suggests that nearly 120 million adults are seeking to become more spiritually adept. To accomplish that goal, they need guidance, a plan of action and some realistic forms of accountability. Doing more of the same activity that got them where they are today is not the solution to getting them to where they want to be tomorrow.”

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Barna’s Annual Review of Significant Religious Findings Offers Encouragement and Challenges (041221)

(Ventura, CA) - After a year of interviewing thousands of adults, ministers, and young people, many insights into the spiritual contours of Americans emerged from the studies conducted by The Barna Group. In his annual yearend summary of some of the highlights and lowlights from his company’s research, cultural analyst George Barna noted that there is reason to be encouraged – and concerned.

Reflecting on the more than 10,000 interviews his firm completed during 2004, Barna identified some of the outcomes he felt were most noteworthy. Those facts were divided into four types: the most encouraging outcomes, the most surprising findings, the most disappointing revelations, and the most significant challenges.

Ten Encouraging Outcomes

In a year when the presidential election focused the spotlight on people’s faith, various Barna studies gave reasons to be encouraged about the faith of Americans. He offered these ten outcomes as particularly hopeful signs.

»Most Americans want their faith in Christ to be reflected in public symbols and language, as evident in public places and policies. Consequently, they support retaining statements such as In God We Trust and One Nation Under God, displays of the Ten Commandments, and teaching creationism in schools.

»A large majority of adults reject the idea of active homosexuals being ordained or retained within the clergy.

»Most Americans – nearly two-thirds of them – continue to give significant amounts of money to churches and houses of worship. Not only did the dollar amount of donations rise, but about three out of every four dollars contributed to a non-profit entity was given to a church last year.

»Born again Christians played a huge role in the outcome of the presidential election. They not only turned out in record numbers – they were a majority of the voters participating on election day – but their solidarity provided President Bush with the margin he needed for re-election.

»Despite numerous economic, political and social challenges, African-Americans remain firmly committed to their Christian faith. They were more likely than people from white, Hispanic or Asian backgrounds to exhibit evidence of Christian practice and Christian belief.

»Thanks to the continued growth of the nation’s population, an estimated 22 million adults have been added to the numbers of churched individuals in the U.S. during the past decade.

»The number of adults involved in small groups has jumped from 12% to 20% since 1994.

»America’s youngest pastors are more aware of, and responsive to, the battle for the minds and hearts of children than are the older pastors.

»Evangelicals stepped up and blended their faith with political action this year. Not only were they boldly in favor of seeing evidence of their faith in all walks of American life, but their unified presence during the election was a key to the outcome.

»Half of all born again adults have endeavored to share their faith in Christ with a non-believer in the past year. Although a large share of those efforts are indirect – such as “lifestyle evangelism” – and few believers are aware of anyone accepting Christ as a result of their efforts, there is a veritable army of Christians who understand and accept the importance of bringing the good news to the world.

Ten Surprising Findings

Barna indicated that based on the comments he has received from people in response to various findings this year, he selected some survey results that were most likely to surprise people.

»Hundreds of thousands of Americans embrace Jesus Christ as their savior for the first time in any given year. However, only 7% of those are likely to do so in direct response to the outreach efforts of a minister, whether it be through preaching, teaching, or a more personal form of interaction.

»Although the West is often maligned as a spiritually bankrupt region, it is the area of the nation that has experienced the greatest increases in Bible reading, church attendance and small group participation in the past decade.

»Baby Busters and Mosaics – i.e., people from the two youngest generations, under the age of 40 – are renowned for the emphasis they place upon the importance of personal relationships. However, when asked to identify the most satisfying element of their spiritual life, these people were the least likely to mention their relationships with other believers.

»Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion of the Christ, was a stunning film that generated hundreds of millions of dollars and attracted millions of viewers. However, despite its undeniable emotional and spiritual force, few people accepted Jesus Christ as their savior as a result of watching that movie; few changed any of their religious beliefs or practices as a result; and less than one-half of one percent of the audience said the movie motivated them to be more active in evangelism.

»For many years, the long-term commitment to Christ by people who were saved as children has been questioned. A national survey revealed, however, that people who embrace Christ before the age of 13 are more likely to remain absolutely committed to Christ in their adult years than are people who accept Christ in their teenage or adult years.

»Churches and parachurch ministries have made divorce a widely-discussed matter in the past two decades. Yet, a majority of born again adults do not believe that divorce is a sin (excluding cases in which adultery is involved).

»Public opinion was evenly divided on the Federal Marriage Amendment. The underpinning of this division was the notion that there is no moral truth on which to base such a law, and therefore people ought to be free to make their moral choices without legal intervention.

»Two-thirds of all evangelicals support a constitutional amendment to establish Christianity as the official religion of the United States. Evangelicals are not alone in that desire, although they are the most prolific supporters. In total, one-third of all U.S. adults support the idea.

»For the typical adult in America, the number of movies they watch during the year is greater than the number of worship services they attend.

»Adherents of non-Christian faiths are twice as likely as born again Christians to engage in fasting for religious purposes.

Ten Disappointing Realities

Faith provides people with hope. Unfortunately, not all of the signs regarding the faith of Americans and the state of their churches are hopeful.

»Born again adults who have been married are just as likely as non-born-again adults who have been married to eventually become divorced. Because the vast majority of born again marriages occurred after the partners had accepted Christ as their savior, it appears that their connection to Christ makes less difference in the durability of people’s marriages than many people might expect.

»Faith has had a limited affect on people’s behavior, whether related to moral convictions and practices, relational activities, lifestyle choices or economic practices. Evangelical Christians, who are just 7% of the national population and less than 10% of those who consider themselves to be Christian, are the exception.

»The sources of people’s greatest spiritual fulfillment are relatively bland in nature. Elements that reflect more intense personal involvement in faith or a relationship with Christ are among the least common sources of people’s spiritual fulfillment.

»Just half of all Protestant Senior Pastors (51%) meet the criteria for having a biblical worldview. The criteria are believing that God is the all-knowing and all-powerful creator of the universe who still rules it today; that Jesus Christ never sinned; that Satan is real; that salvation is received through faith in Christ, not by good deeds; that every follower of Christ has a responsibility to share their faith with non-believers; that the Bible is accurate in all that it teaches; that absolute moral truth exists; and that absolute moral truth is described in the Bible.

»Most adults admit that children do not get adequate spiritual and moral preparation in life, yet there is no aggressive or strategic effort being made to alter that unfortunate circumstance.

»Only 8% of teenagers consider music piracy – defined as copying their CDs for friends and making unauthorized downloads of music from the Internet – to be morally wrong.

»The good news is that most born again Christians donate money to religious causes. The bad news is that their generosity is limited. A mere 7% of born again adults tithed last year.

»Churches are difficult to reach. Only 55% of Protestant churches provided telephone callers with a human response to their call attempt after multiple attempts made at different times of the day on a succession of days – during the holiday season!

»Born again Christians and adults who attend Christian churches are more likely than atheists, agnostics, and adherents of non-Christian faiths to buy lottery tickets.

»There seems to be a consistent degree of attrition of men from the Christian faith. The numbers of men who are unchurched is rising, while the numbers of men who are “deeply spiritual” and those who possess an active faith (attend church, pray and read the Bible during the week) is declining.

Ten Challenging Conditions

The various studies conducted during 2004 also revealed various conditions that are challenges to the Christian community for the days ahead.

»Half of all adults are so satisfied with their spiritual life that there is nothing at all they wish to change or improve in the future. Another one-quarter listed changes that were quite general or not personally challenging.

»Catholics lag significantly behind Protestants in most measures of spiritual practice and belief. For example, Catholics are less likely to read the Bible, contribute to their church, attend religious education classes, participate in a small group for religious purposes, share their faith in Christ with others, and volunteer at their church. They’re also less likely to be born again, to believe that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life, to believe that Satan is real, to contend that salvation is by faith alone, and to say that the Bible is accurate in all that it teaches. Catholics are also less likely to have a biblical worldview.

»Most evangelistic funding, events and programs emphasize reaching adults with the gospel. However, two-thirds of all Americans who accept Jesus Christ as their savior do so before they reach the age of 18.

»Most Americans do not accept the notion that they are engaged in a spiritual battle. This is fueled by the widespread rejection of the notion that Satan is real, that salvation is by faith alone, and by the common acceptance of the idea that there are multiple paths to salvation. This also partially explains why only half of all self-described “Christians” are not “absolutely committed” to the Christian faith.

»People who accept Christ as their savior when they are adults are less likely to embrace biblical theology than are those who accept Christ when they are children.

»The number of unchurched adults in the United States has doubled since 1991. That growth has been especially pronounced among men, people under 40, singles, and people living in coastal states.

»Tithing is pitifully uncommon. However, it is almost non-existent among people under the age of 40.

»Female pastors are substantially different in their theological beliefs than are male pastors. They tend to be much more liberal in their views, are less likely to have a biblical worldview, are less likely to be born again, and more likely to have been divorced.

»Asian-Americans are the fastest-growing ethnic group in the U.S. They are also the ethnic group least likely to possess biblical perspectives, to be Christian, and to engage in religious activity related to Christianity.

»Four out of ten adults have seen a movie in the past two years that has caused them to think more seriously about their faith. As the mass media and customized media capture an increasing share of people’s attention, Christians are challenged to figure out how to harness or address the power of such communication vehicles for the advancement of Christianity.

The Future of the Christian Church

Reacting to what he jokingly called his company’s “annual greatest hits compilation,” Barna stated that the research conducted during the past year shows that there is still much to discover about the role of faith in people’s lives. “People’s religious beliefs change very little, if at all, after the age of 12,” the California-based researcher noted, “but the way in which they apply those beliefs to their lifestyle and societal situations, and the degree to which they allow their faith to affect their behavior, is constantly shifting. Staying informed about the relationship between faith and lifestyle is a never-ending process. Having some influence on the faith-related choices that drive behaviors is similarly challenging.”

The leader of The Barna Group also indicated that during 2005 his company will study the newly-emerging forms of the Christian faith. “During this past year we learned that there is a rapidly growing contingent of the population for whom the typical forms of worship, faith formation, engagement and spiritual community do not work well. This group is already multiple millions strong and is developing and embracing new approaches to being the Church. Research we are conducting related to this re-engineering of the Christian faith in American society promises to be some of the most interesting work we have done to date.”

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