(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.
Read More(ANALYSIS) I was talking to someone who works in the nursing home industry a couple of weeks ago, and she said a term that I had never heard: “the silver tsunami.” It’s the demographic reality facing the United States and most other industrialized countries — that the population is getting a heck of a lot older.
Read More(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.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The mainline is just a bloodbath. Five traditions are down by at least 30%. The ELCA is down 41%. The United Church of Christ is less than half the size it was in the late 1980s. The United Methodists are already down 31%, but with over 15% of their churches disaffiliating just this year, I wouldn’t be surprised in membership is down 40% or more by this time next year.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The countries in Europe that are more likely to attend religious services than the American average are Poland, Slovakia, Cyprus, Ireland and Italy. The rest have attendance rates that are much lower than the overall American attendance mark.
Read More(ANALYSIS) There is no doubt in my mind that politics is one of the main culprits for the emptying out of American religion. That was my starting point for this piece. What follows is a peek inside how I think through a problem like that.
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