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Talking About the Nones

Author: Scott

~ 03/10/10

The percentage of Americans who call themselves Christians has dropped dramatically over the past two decades, and those who do are increasingly identifying themselves without traditional denomination labels.

The faithful have scattered out of their traditional bases: The Bible Belt is less Baptist. The Rust Belt is less Catholic. And everywhere, more people are exploring spiritual frontiers—or falling off the faith map completely.

The third largest “faith” group now are the “Nones,” those who do not affiliate with a denomination.  And, as the culture becomes to more hostile to religious beliefs, we seem to be “losing our home court advantage.” 

Ed Stetzer, who is a major player with the Southern Baptist and is featured in this report from Knoxville’s  WKRN News 2 recently shared this news report.  It’s 11minutes but worth the view.

I know that this is the second day in a row of less than uplifting news, but . . .

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5 Comments

  1. Three things:
    1)We need to get back to basics and refocus on the truth. Therefore, Jesus, Bible, relationship!
    2)Are our faith leaders images of Christ or images of ego?
    3)Traditions and laws make no sense unless a relationship is developed. Family traditions are developed and fostered because of relationship. When relationship falters so do traditions.

    Comment by Carlo Stebbings — Wednesday, March 10, 2010 @ 12:07 pm

  2. Here are my thoughts on why numbers are dwindling:

    • Divorce and Mixed Faith Marriages: When two parents go to two different churches, or one goes to church and the other doesn’t, chances are that their kids will not go to church.
    • The secularization of Churches: Non-Denominational Churches are pulling people away from the more traditional denominations (this happened to me while in college, but I soon found the message of the non-denominational church to be watered down)
    • I think the fact that stores and restaurants are opened on Sundays may also be contributing to the dwindling church-rate. Businesses aren’t allowed to make only the Atheists work on Sundays.
    • I think for Catholics,ignorance of their Faith is a big part of it. Too many Catholics don’t know their faith and when they leave for these non-Denominational Churches or just leave, they are not afraid to share with the world all sorts of things that Catholics do not actually believe.

    I don’t think there is any one answer to why Church attendance is dwindling. Some blame it on Hollywood, the Music Industry, and MTV, but I think it comes back to the family. Broken homes are a big problem these days.

    Comment by Josh of Catholic Tech Tips — Wednesday, March 10, 2010 @ 12:15 pm

  3. Hi Scott, interesting–and sad. We’ve been seeing studies showing the decline for years. The question is, why??

    Would you be willing to share this post in a resource library for youth pastors? I believe I commented earlier as well. We’d love to partner with you, and it’d be a great way to get the word out about your own site too. http://www.calledtoyouthministry.com/resources

    Let me know what you think–thanks so much!!

    Comment by Nathaniel Dame — Wednesday, March 10, 2010 @ 2:00 pm

  4. I would like to see more discussion related to the effect of technology, particularly the internet, on religious identification.

    Outside of the obvious, like the fact that social networking, e-mail, etc. provide “instant community” that could be found in church, the internet also provides a semi-safe haven for people to anonymously share their beliefs and ideas with the world. Someone tentatively floats an idea about not believing in X or Y religious tenant and they can find many who will validate their beliefs. Relativism increases, desire to be “told what to believe” decreases. In addition, media shares religious transgressions at a super-fast rate – and allows for readers to comment (and share their thoughts with the entire readership).

    Comment by Jo — Wednesday, March 10, 2010 @ 7:55 pm

  5. [...] Talking About the Nones [...]

    Pingback by Catholic Youth Ministry Blog » Opera Christi non Deficiunt, sed Proficiunt — Thursday, March 11, 2010 @ 6:06 am

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