Ministers and church leaders traveled to a Nebraska farming town to pray, fellowship and brainstorm ideas for revival at a time of declining numbers, post-pandemic challenges and political polarization.
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(OPINION) Few issues in religion have been as remarked upon and puzzled over lately as the rapid rise of “nones,” those who claim no religious affiliation. I’ve written about this before, I realize, but it’s a news story that just keeps developing.
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(ANALYSIS) Particularly in the West, people tend to think about religion in terms of belief in a higher power, such as God. For many nones, however, spirituality does not need a god or the supernatural to address questions of purpose, meaning, belonging and well-being. While abandoning mainstream religious affiliation, many turn to alternative expressions, including secular, atheist and psychedelic churches.
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(ANALYSIS) I wanted to explore that gender gap on marriage a bit. But also I wanted to see how all of that related back to religion. I think it goes without saying that lots of people have found their current spouse at a house of worship. But is being single driving women further away from religion than unmarried men? These are questions worth some analysis and reflection.
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(ANALYSIS) Until the 1960s, more than half of Americans identified with the “mainline” Protestant churches that “have played an outsized role in America’s history,” says a Sept. 13 report from the Public Religion Research Institute. No longer, as is well known among clergy and parishioners who pay attention, scholars and religion journalists.
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(OPINION) If you, like me, think faith in God and religious affiliation are generally good things for people, then you, like me, ought to feel unsettled by the findings of political scientist Ryan Burge. He argues that religious participation in the United States is now largely the domain of the educated and comfortable, rather than a buttress for those on the margins of society, who historically were the core audience for Christianity.
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(OPINION) Here’s another transition I’m having a hard time with: The small rural church I lead seems to be struggling in a way I’ve never seen in 40-some years of ministry. And I thought I’d seen it all by now.
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(ANALYSIS) Religious switching is a fascinating topic. It’s happening every single day, thousands of times. Without any fanfare or big declarations, people leave religion behind or chose a different faith when taking a survey. And yet we only have a very basic understanding of the mechanisms that make all that happen.
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(OPINION) What ails the United States of America? Why have some serious thinkers even talked about a second civil war? Both journalists and religious leaders should be pondering that on July 4. Consider some recent media coverage.
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(OPINION) There’s obvious news potential in a poll about religious attitudes that covers 26 nations and with fresh data (collected between Jan. 20 and Feb. 3). Media chart-makers could have fun with the many numbers in the 40-page “Global Religion 2023: Religious Beliefs Across the World,” issued May 11 by Ipsos, the noted international market research and polling firm.
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(OPINION) An extensive new survey by the Public Religion Research Institute finds that only 16% of Americans say religion is the most important thing in their lives. But what could 50 million gracious, merciful disciples do for this country today, if they really got focused on loving their neighbors and making peace and preaching good news instead of gloom and despair?
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(OPINION) Religion writers, like many other Americans, doubtless find a February report on the well-being of American teens from the federal Centers for Disease Control nothing short of alarming.
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