(REVIEW) Filmed on location across the country, it holds grief and vitality side by side: the final service at Belding United Methodist Church in Michigan; a Minnesota farm-country Lutheran congregation; growing Hispanic, Korean-American and historic Black churches; house churches; new church plants; and even worship in virtual reality.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Let’s actually dig into the widely held belief that American Orthodox Christianity is experiencing a huge surge in converts post-pandemic. The short answer: That’s a really hard claim to test with survey data, for a simple reason. There just aren’t that many Orthodox Christians in the U.S. to begin with.
Read MoreAs the economy strains the U.S. public, pastors report increasing pressures and giving lagging behind inflation. Lifeway Research’s annual tracking survey reveals most U.S. Protestant pastors (54%) report the economy is negatively impacting their congregation. Slightly more than a third (36%) say it’s having no impact, while 8% see a positive economic effect.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Where do you go to vote on Election Day? I am assuming that all you readers are actually voting. If you don’t, it’s my solemn duty as a classically trained political scientist to tell you that your vote matters and all that. I’ve voted in a bunch of different places in my life, especially when I was in college and graduate school.
Read MoreWall Street investment banks have discovered what Southern Baptist financial ministries long have known: Dallas is a great place to do business. Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley are among the banks that have established or are considering major offices in Dallas. They join the headquarters of GuideStone Financial Resources and the Baptist Church Loan Corporation.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The Association of Religion Data Archives is awesome for a project like this because I can quickly find the datasets that I need to answer this question from multiple angles. I am going to use two different sources — the General Social Survey, which allows me to trace the contours of American religion all the way back to the early 1970s, and the Pew Religious Landscape Survey, which permits me to do a really deep dive on the state of Catholic retention in the last couple of years.
Read MoreWell over half, 58 percent, of white evangelical Protestants said they approve of Trump’s job performance, with 40 percent voicing disapproval. But Trump’s approval has fallen among white evangelical Protestants since his term began, when 78 percent approved.
Read MoreA Lifeway Research study found 93% of U.S. Protestant pastors say they don’t plan to endorse candidates for public office during a worship service, despite the IRS saying it will allow churches to do so without losing their tax-exempt status.
Read More(ANALYSIS) You can probably guess where this post is going. The Canadian General Social Survey is fielded every year, but it doesn’t ask about religion in every wave. However, it did include a battery of questions about religious affiliation, importance, and attendance in 2003, 2008, 2013, and 2020. This gives me ample data to test the theory of a religious revival in Canada.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Whenever you think about the very largest churches in the United States, what denominations come to mind? I think that most of you, if you’ve been following along with this newsletter for any amount of time, would think of non-denominationalism. Maybe a Southern Baptist church. And the data says that this is largely the case.
Read MoreMore pastors are preaching longer sermons, and most churchgoers are OK with it. In fact, a small but growing number would prefer even more each week. A Lifeway Research study of Protestant pastors and churchgoers finds little disagreement between the pulpit and the pews over sermon length, even as pastors stretch out their weekly messages.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The Bible was such an integral part of my upbringing that it’s hard to describe. We did Bible quizzing drills and scripture verse memorization. By the time I got my driver’s license, I had a pretty good grasp on the meta-narrative laid out in the 66 books that make up the Old and New Testaments. I had Bibles from all kinds of translations, too.
Read MoreFindings are based on several data sets, including surveys distributed in seven languages to experts in 100 countries, in-depth interviews with country-specific experts, and onsite visits to select countries to verify data and collect additional information, as well as established resources including the World Christian Database, the World Watch List and World Development Bank indicators.
Read MoreANALYSIS) What do we do with the time that we have? That’s one of the most important questions we face, in my estimation. It’s certainly something I struggle with on a day-to-day basis. I have a really hard time taking a vacation that lasts more than four or five days because I feel a deep sense of guilt that I’m not doing enough with my life.
Read MoreIn Hulu’s “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” half of the show’s reality TV cast are unceremoniously disinvited from their friend’s baby blessing party. Their alleged transgression? Not being Mormon enough. The episode hits on a larger cultural trend: Mormons appear to have grown less religious, according to a new study.
Read MoreToday the Christian legal movement is worth hundreds of millions of dollars and has touched many aspects of American life. Firms have been on a winning spree at the Supreme Court, overturning long-standing legal limits on religious expression by public officials, expanding religious exemptions and elevating the place of religious exercise to its highest point in modern times.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Obviously, Baptists pay close attention to baptism statistics, along with trends on church attendance and membership. In a new report, Lifeway dug into Southern Baptist Convention Annual Church Profile numbers for 2025 and reported that baptisms rose for the fifth consecutive year. Baptist leaders quickly noted another current trend — adults 30 and older represented 33% of all baptisms.
Read MoreA Lifeway Research study of 1,000 evangelical and Black Protestant male churchgoers and 473 men’s ministry leaders highlighted the importance of dedicated men’s ministries.
Read MoreCivilian deaths increased 51 percent and abductions rose 153 percent between October and December 2025, compared to the same period a year before, researchers said. Months later, beginning in April, the government began arresting and convicting Boko Haram terrorists and others of related crimes.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Prediction markets are rapidly transforming betting from sports into wagers on politics, disasters, wars, celebrities and virtually anything imaginable. Their explosive growth raises questions about gambling, addiction, market manipulation, insider information, public trust and morality, while regulators, lawmakers, religious leaders and ethics experts struggle to respond.
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