As many of you probably already know, the Pew Forum’s survey of the religious landscape in America was very telling. Some statistics that caught my attention as I looked closer at the other chapters of the Forum’s report were those of the Changes in America’s Religious Affiliation. This can be found in chapter two of the report.
The report shows that of all Protestant denominations, the Baptists have had the greatest net loss from changes in affiliation. The greatest benefactor of changes in affiliation have been nondenominational Protestants. Of all religious groups, Catholics have suffered the greatest net loss due to changes in affiliation. The most telling stat is that the fastest growing group in America are those who do not identify with any religion or tradition.
To download the report, go here. The full PDF download is in the top corner to your right.
Please comment on some or all of these questions….
What is your read on these changes in affiliation?
Why do you think Baptists are leading the way among Protestants in losing adherents?
What comes to mind when you read that the fastest growing group in America are the unaffiliated, i.e. the unchurched? Fearful resentment? Hopeful optimism? Devious satisfaction? Subversive relief?
5 comments
Comments feed for this article
May 13, 2008 at 10:56 am
Michael Krahn
Why do you think Baptists are leading the way among Protestants in losing adherents?
Failure to contextualize.
May 13, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Michael Krahn
…and failure to respond to criticisms about the failure to contextualize.
May 13, 2008 at 4:38 pm
baptimergent1
or failure to respond to criticism without belligerence, denial, and scapegoating.
May 13, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Michael Krahn
I bet a lot of those lost would still consider themselves ‘baptist’… they are probably just trying to put some distance between themselves and the negative connotations of the word “Baptist”.
This is a worse problem in the US than it is here in Canada, but even my own church has recently dropped “Baptist” from our name even though we’re still officially affiliated.
May 14, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Jess
I think that Baptist are among the leading group because they are seen by many people as fundamentalists and not accepting of other people. They have faught publically faught against the gay and lesbian populations and they are among the leading denominations when it comes to conservative politics. I think that they (we) have put a bad tast in people’s mouths.