Millennials are more generous with their money in some cases than older Americans, a new report says. The study by the Barna Group examined motivations behind giving to various causes, including family needs, charitable giving and serving God. The findings…
Single adult numbers are soaring. What does that mean for congregations?
Churches may want to take a hard look at what they’re offering young, single adults — and then boost it. “Many churches are built around a family model,” Roxanne Stone, editor and chief of the Barna Group, said in remarks published…
Is the future bright for women in ministry? Survey says some think so.
Attitudes about the role of women in the workplace, in politics and church seem to have made some advances in recent years, new research suggests. In a study released Tuesday, the Barna Group said it found that 94 percent of…
American pastors are older, and getting older, than ever
If you’re noticing a lot of gray in the pulpit at your church these days, you’re not alone. Pastors are getting older. “The aging of pastors represents a substantial crisis for Protestant churches,” David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group,…
Scripture reading stable in U.S. despite rising skepticism
Let’s face it: New Year’s resolutions are mostly a lot of talk. Gyms that are crowded in January and February thin out to normal levels by March and April. Fad diets fade and new savings accounts are bled dry. And…
Most Americans believe in supernatural healing. But do Baptists?
Most Americans believe the supernatural can heal physical illnesses and ailments, a new study shows. And evangelicals lead the way in that belief, Barna found. But determining where Baptists fall in those attitudes depends on whether they have adopted the…
Teens may not be lazy after all, new study shows
Those lazy kids. It’s a centuries old refrain that’s become popular in recent years as faith leaders look for the causes of church decline. But new research suggests teenagers may not be as much to blame as many think. It…
What if church doesn’t matter?
Americans are a remarkably faithful people when it comes to spirituality, yet they are simultaneously, remarkably faithless when it comes to institutional religion. Why? This perplexity borders on cliché since it has been true for a number of years, but…
Report offers good (and bad) news about the state of American faith
A new survey of Christian beliefs and practices opens with what many in the church world would consider very good news: nearly three-quarters of Americans claim to be Christian. Meanwhile, a fifth claim no religious belief or affiliation at all,…
Survey finds teens reading Bibles — but are they retaining it?
New research reporting American teens have more respect and use for the Bible than some might think comes as no real surprise to Gavin Rogers. The “2016 Teen State of the Bible” project, commissioned by the American Bible Society and…
Young people are tithing — but not to churches alone, researchers say
The idea of counting gifts to nonprofits other than a house of worship is a difficult concept for some church members to grasp. But congregations may have to come to grips with the concept and with the idea that younger generations tend to view tithing in broad terms.
Study: evangelicals at odds with rest of nation on police and racial bias
Unlike most Americans, evangelical Christians do not believe that law enforcement treats minorities unfairly, new research by The Barna Group has found. “Overall, only 29 percent of evangelicals believe police unfairly target people of color,” the Christian research organization said…
Survey finds Christians using Jesus to pursue ‘way of self’
Christian beliefs and values are disappearing from American life and the culture is filling the void with an individualism and moral relativism that even many Christians adhere to, new research shows. The study by The Barna Group, “The End of…
As Millennials leave the church, some youth ministers ponder ‘scary stats’
Nearly six in 10 Millennials who grow up in churches leave to join the growing ranks of Americans with no religious affiliation, new research shows. That spells confusing and scary times not only for congregations worried about their futures, but…