Religious Trends In America

Recent data concerning American religious trends has shown a shift away from a formerly homogenous religious society, to a society which has growing religious plurality as well as those who abstain from religion entirely. This growing group of people who are not affiliated with any religion has often thought to be comprised of individuals “seeking” something. In contrast, however, data also suggests this group to be largely comprised of people who had formerly been religious; specifically, people who used to be mainline Protestant, evangelical Protestant, or Catholic. This increase in individuals leaving Christianity for either other religions or no religion prompts reflection on what Christian ministry should look like, though I see the concern for numbers not as dire as some might believe. …show more content…
Mainline Protestant groups as well as Catholics dropped approximately three percentage points from 2007-2014, with evangelical Protestants also seeing a decline within the same years. However, this group of those who are the religious unaffiliated, comprised both of individuals not raised in a faith tradition in those who have left, is second in size only to evangelical Protestants. Along with an increase in religiously unaffiliated people there has also been a slight increase in other world religions, specifically Islam and Hinduism. This study provides a snapshot of contemporary religious life in America; organized religion is still a factor in the majority of American’s lives, yet the homogeneity of that religion is not as established regarding what religion, if any, people