Church Is Not Important, 51 Percent of US Adults Say
(Link): Church Is Not Important, 51 Percent of US Adults Say
(Link): Chris Thompson: Research underscores deeper church attendance issues
Excerpts:
- BY CHRIS THOMPSON
AnchorageMarch 28, 2014
…This week the Barna Group released “Americans Divided on the Importance of Church.” When asked what helped them grow in faith, “people offered a variety of answers — prayer, family or friends, reading the Bible, having children — but church did not even crack the Top 10 list.”
Sadly, half of Americans say attending church is “somewhat” or “very” important vs. half that say it’s “not too” or “not at all” important, according to the Barna Group study.
The report notes that the “divide between the religiously active and those resistant to churchgoing affects American culture, morality, politics and religion.”
…The Barna study asked unchurched Americans why they didn’t attend church. The top two reasons given were “I find God elsewhere” (40 percent) and “Church is not relevant to me personally” (35 percent). Regardless of age, denomination or background, the major reason (43 percent) people give for going to church is “to be closer to God.”
…Additionally, while almost two-thirds of those who value church attendance go to learn more about God, fewer than one in 10 (6 percent) who have ever been to church say they learned something about God or Jesus the last time they attended. In fact, the majority of people (61 percent) say they did not gain any significant or new insights regarding faith when they last attended.
….A report last year by the Pew Forum asked religiously affiliated respondents what kept them out of the pews.
The report found that among religiously affiliated Americans who say that religion is at least somewhat important in their lives, but who attend worship services no more than a few times a year, 24 percent cite personal priorities — including 16 percent who say they are too busy — as reasons they do not attend more often. Another 24 percent mention practical difficulties, including work conflicts, health problems or transportation difficulties.
“Nearly four in 10 (37 percent) point to an issue directly related to religion or church itself. The most common religion-related responses include disagreements with the beliefs of the religion or their church leaders, or beliefs that attending worship services is not important. Meanwhile, almost one in 10 (9 percent) do not attribute their lack of attendance at religious services to anything in particular.”
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Related:
(Link): Guilt Tripping or Shaming the Hurt Sheep to Return to Church
(Link): The Unchurched
(Link): Quitting Church – why single Christians aren’t going to church – church has failed Christian singles
(Link): The Church / Christians Have Failed Are Failing Older Single / Never Married Christians
(Link): Guilt Tripping or Shaming the Hurt Sheep to Return to Church
(Link): Christian Singles Never Marrieds – it’s okay to get your needs met
(Link): Why Nobody Wants To Go To Church Anymore (book)
(Link): Preachers With a Conflicting View on Church Attendance
(Link): Christians Who Can’t Agree on Who The Old Testament Is For and When or If It Applies
(Link): Blaming the Christian for His or Her Own Problem or Unanswered Prayer / Christian Codependency
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