Religious Trends

“…just as ‘evangelical’ has become a synonym in the public mind with ‘conservative white Protestants,’ this survey shows that ‘mainline’ has come to mean ‘non-evangelical Protestant.’” - TGC

“The proportion of white Christians hit a low point in 2018, at 42%, and rebounded slightly in 2019 and 2020, to 44%. That tick upward indicates the decline is slowing from its pace of losing roughly 11% per decade.” - PRRI

“Overall, nearly nine-in-ten U.S. adults who were raised Jewish (88%) are still Jewish today. This includes 70% who identify with the Jewish religion and 18% who don’t identify with any religion but who consider themselves Jewish in some other way” - Pew

“City data taken from Barna’s annual tracking research reveals that the top-ranked city for Bible-reading—Monroe, LA—roughly doubles the national percentage of participation, with 64 percent of the city’s residents saying they read the Bible at least weekly. Other markets that report regular Bible-reading are in close proximity, with the top five being located in the South.” - Barna

“New findings from the American Worldview Inventory 2021 show that nearly four out of 10 adults (38%) are more likely to embrace elements of MTD than other popular worldviews, including Biblical Theism (or a biblical worldview), Secular Humanism, Postmodernism, Nihilism, Marxism (along with its offshoot, Critical Theory) and Eastern Mysticism (also known as ‘New Age’).” -

“Among 13- to 17-year-old teenagers, 45 percent believe many religions may be true, far outpacing the 31 percent who believe only one religion is true, Pew said. A much smaller portion, 15 percent, believe there is little to no truth in any religion, and 8 percent believe no religion is true.” - BPNews

“Around the world, the number of professing Christians is on the rise. The Center for the Study of Global Christianity now estimates that the number of evangelicals and Protestants will grow by 50 percent from nearly one billion to more than 1.5 billion by 2050.” - Ligonier

Churches without Members, Christians without Churches

No, Religious Conservatives Didn’t Cause Church Membership Decline

“According to the groundbreaking American Worldview Inventory 2021—the first survey of its kind to measure not only biblical worldview, but six prominent competing worldviews—found that the overwhelming majority of American adults lack a cohesive, coherent worldview, and instead substitute a patchwork of conflicting, often irreconcilable beliefs and values as they navigate life.” -