Weekend Plug-in 🔌

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(ANALYSIS) What can 36,908 U.S. adults tell us about the state of religion in America?

A whole lot, actually.

This week, the Pew Research Center released the findings of its massive Religious Landscape Study, building on similar research from 2007 and 2014. 

The big news, according to Pew: The decline of Christianity in the United States has slowed and may have leveled off.

Stop the presses!

I asked a handful of top Godbeat pros who reported on the study to offer their insights. 

1. What surprised you most about Pew’s findings?

• Tiffany Stanley, Associated Press: “I was surprised at just how many people held spiritual or supernatural beliefs. Given that so many Americans have abandoned organized religion, it was striking to see that more than 80% believe in a higher power and a human soul.” (Read Stanley’s story.)

• Daniel Silliman, Christianity Today: “There are more than 17 million evangelicals who don't go to church! Digging into the specifics of ‘evangelical’ was fascinating and, I hope, useful to people.” (Read Silliman’s story on “Who are evangelicals?” and his related report on the Pew study.)

• Kelsey Dallas, Deseret News: “This is an obvious answer, but it's a true answer: I was most surprised by the pause in the rise of the ‘nones.’ I did not expect the trend line to level off.” (Read Dallas’ main story on the Pew study and her 10 key takeaways.)

• Clemente Lisi, Religion Unplugged: “There has been so much talk of the ‘nones’ over the past few years that it’s very surprising to see things stabilizing. I have to think that the pandemic had something to do with it, although the study didn’t go into much detail on that. Also, despite a drop in organized religion, Americans in large numbers hold spiritual and supernatural beliefs. It’s a further sign that Americans aren’t prepared as a whole to ignore faith — it’s just that it has taken on other forms. Lastly, immigration has seen other faith traditions grow, which makes sense. Religions like Hinduism and Buddhism will certainly have an impact on American society in years to come.” (Read Lisi’s story.)

• Liam Adams, The Tennessean and USA Today Network: “I was most surprised by the narrowing gender gap and how it compares to larger narratives about young men flocking to conservative faith traditions in droves. In fact, Pew acknowledged those notions in its report and said the data doesn’t totally reflect the hype. Still, the data points to a leveling off in rates of religiousness among men and women, or at least challenges earlier trends of much higher rates of religiousness among women. We quoted sociologist Penny Edgell’s reflections on what the data on the narrowing gender gap and the heightened political polarization says about attitudes toward traditional gender roles. This is a phenomenon I’m seeing in the faith groups I cover regularly, so it’s helpful to have data that both affirms and complicates my observations.” (Read Adams’ story.)

• • •

2. What surprised you least?

• Tiffany Stanley, Associated Press: “That young adults are much less religious than their elders. Part of that may be their life stage, but it’s also why the long-term decline of American religion still seems ominous, even with the current stabilization.”

• Daniel Silliman, Christianity Today: “People in America are really spiritual, even as they grow more leery of organizations and groups. I think a lot of the talk about secularization has been wrong, and people should read more of sociologist Peter Berger. This study goes a ways to confirming and fleshing out what I thought!”

• Kelsey Dallas, Deseret News: “I'm going to cheat and make my answer about Pew Research Center instead of about the data. I wasn't surprised that Anna Schiller, Greg Smith and others at Pew made covering the study quite painless for reporters. They provided embargoed info well in advance and organized an in-depth press briefing. It's not surprising because Pew's crew has long been kind to journalists.”

• Clemente Lisi, Religion Unplugged: “I wasn’t at all surprised that more Republicans identify as being more religious than Democrats. Also not surprising is the gap between young and old. Both are trends we have seen in other studies and a big reason why Americans are more polarized than ever. I think this political gap will widen in future years. As for the generation gap, that will also widen unless something changes. It will also certainly lead to a future drop in the number of people who identify as Christian.” 

• Liam Adams, The Tennessean and USA Today Network: “I was least surprised at the lower percentages of U.S. adults who identify with particular Protestant denominations and with the slight increase in those who identify as nondenominational evangelical Protestant. I’ve been watching this play out on the ground level in my reporting on the Southern Baptist Convention, United Methodist Church and others. This will almost certainly continue and I expect it to be a dominant story in my ongoing coverage of Protestantism in the U.S., which is that of decline and shrinking denominational-affiliated institutions (i.e. staff layoffs, property sales).” 

• • •

3. Any issues or trends revealed that you want to delve deeper into? And if so, what can you say about them without giving away too much to your competition?

• Tiffany Stanley, Associated Press: “I think there is more to be done on the idea that so many Americans see themselves as spiritual but not religious. And I’d like someone to dig more into how race, religion and politics intersect in the report.”

• Daniel Silliman, Christianity Today: “I want to know more about: The specific answers that people gave when asked their religious affiliation. Some of the ones mentioned in the appendix are fascinating! House church? Exvangelical? Sabbath keeper? I was especially charmed by the folks who gave the location of their congregation.

• Kelsey Dallas, Deseret News: “I want to dive more into how the study has landed with religious leaders. Are they feeling hopeful? Stressed out? What numbers stuck in their heads?”

• Clemente Lisi, Religion Unplugged: “All editors love stories that dig deeper. For me, I think it’s this anecdotal notion that more young men are joining Orthodoxy and Catholicism. While more women attend church compared to men, there are trends that show this is changing among the young. I’d love to see what other studies or a future Pew one will say about this and whether it really is making more believers out of young men. More importantly, if true, what’s really driving this?”

• Liam Adams, The Tennessean and USA Today Network: “In briefly poking around the Catholic-specific data, there was an array of views on major political issues and political party affiliations. I cover Catholics less than I do evangelical denominations, but I’m eager to find a way to cite some of this data showing variance among U.S. Catholics’ political and social views.”

• • •

I greatly appreciate my religion journalism colleagues taking time to share their analysis, especially during such a busy week.

Read more coverage of the Pew study from CNN’s Jennifer Agiesta, NPR’s Jason DeRose, the National Catholic Reporter’s Heidi Schlumpf, the New York Times’ Ruth Graham, Religion News Service’s Fiona André, the Salt Lake Tribune’s Tamarra Kemsley and the Washington Post’s Emily Guskin.

Inside The Godbeat

When Christianity Today republished my “Jesus at the ballpark” feature in 2023, I was both excited by the extra exposure for the story and jealous at the headline, which was better than the original:

“Take me out to the faith night,” it declared.

CT excels at clever titles — a fact reinforced by the magazine taking first place in the ACES: The Society for Editing headline contest. (In a different column, I’ll wonder if a copy-editing society could have come up with a less clunky name.)

“This is the nerdiest thing I will ever brag about,” Kate Shellnutt, CT’s editorial director for news, said of the award.

The Final Plug

“Americans are exhausted by a string of tragedies and want to move on. Do we have a duty to care?”

The Wall Street Journal’s Clare Ansberry explored that question in a recent column.

I found Ansberry’s piece helpful on the heels of my recent Plug-in on seeking hope while reporting on too many disasters.

Happy Friday, everyone! Enjoy the weekend.

Bobby Ross Jr. writes the Weekend Plug-in column for Religion Unplugged and serves as editor-in-chief of The Christian Chronicle. A former religion writer for The Associated Press and The Oklahoman, Ross has reported from all 50 states and 18 nations. He has covered religion since 1999.