After two decades of steady decline, Christianity in America has hit a plateau, even as younger generations continue to step away from traditional religion. Yet spiritual beliefs remain strong across age groups, suggesting that this moment may hold opportunity for rebirth within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and other traditional denominations.
A recent Barna Group survey found that 66% of U.S. adults say they’ve made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that remains important in their life today, compared with 54% in 2021. Notably, many who expressed this commitment did not identify as Christian. Nearly three in 10 non-Christians claimed a commitment to Christ, perhaps revealing a space for outreach outside traditional membership categories.
For years, data from Pew Research Center and others showed Christianity in decline while the “nones” — theists, agnostics and “nothing in particular” — steadily rose.
More recent studies, however, indicate stability rather than freefall. Pew’s 2023–24 Religious Landscape Study found that 62% of American adults identify as Christian and 29% are nones. Research of Ryan Burge and Tony Jones found that 21% of the nones are nones in name only (NiNO), 66% of whom are drawn to spirituality, over half who say they pray daily, and a third who attend a religious service at least once a year.
Still, there’s a lack of “generational replacement,” signaling further decline ahead, Pew says.
Statistics from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) present a similar picture.
Pew’s Religious Landscape Study found that 79% of all Americans, adults of all ages, say there’s something spiritual beyond the natural world, even if we can’t see it, and 83% believe in God or a universal spirit. Among 18- to-29-year-olds, 76% believe in God or a universal spirit, compared with 89% of those 65 or older, according to Pew.
“Religious and/or spiritual beliefs are an incredibly persistent aspect of life in the United States, and that’s true even among people who distance themselves from the traditional trappings of religious life,” according to Burge and Jones.
The Barna survey found that Millennials and Gen Z are driving an increase in the commitment to Christ. Gen Xers and Boomers changed little in their commitment from 2019 to 2025. In 2019, just over 50% of the two younger generations expressed a commitment to Christ. By 2025, 64% of Gen Z and 68% of Millennials said they had committed to Christ, compared with 65% of Gen Xers and 64% of Boomers. Barna said its latest findings “may be the clearest indication of meaningful spiritual renewal in the United States.”
Many young people are passionate about fairness, equality and standing up for those in need. These are Gospel values. Jesus championed justice, welcoming the outcasts, challenging corrupt leaders, and preaching love that transcends barriers. But trust in religious institutions has eroded, and post-Boomers tend to see churches as businesses, at best, and at worst, hypocritical.
“Organized religion, they charge, too fervently pursues money, power, and partisan politics,” research sociologist Steven Tipton says. “It imposes too many rules and claims too much truth in the name of God.”
Researchers who followed a cohort of adolescents coming of age during the rapid rise of the nones and shifting social values said that “when young people perceive religious institutions as stifling self-actualization, marginalizing sexual minorities, constraining women, or demonstrating hypocrisy, they experience conflict between their religious commitments and deeply held values related to concern for others and the sacredness of the individual.”
While working on his latest book, “Why Religion Went Obsolete: The Demise of Traditional Faith in America,” sociologist Christian Smith was asked whether a religious revival was possible. “Among the more unlikely but not impossible of history’s surprises,” he concludes, “would be if American traditional religions turned their difficult predicament into an opportunity for self-critical soul-searching. What, finally, are they trying to do and why?”
The Board of Pensions is an agency of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Through the Benefits Plan of the PC(USA), the Board provides a broad range of benefits and programs to PC(USA) congregations, agencies, and mid councils as well as affiliate employers — including educational institutions, camps and conference centers, retirement and senior housing communities and human services organizations.
The Board of Pensions (Click here to read original PNS Story)
Let us join in prayer for:
Jeanie Shaw, Senior Accounting Clerk Controllers, Administrative Services Group
Julianna Sheridan, Administrator, Investments, The Board of Pensions
Let us pray:
Bountiful God of hope, you sent your son, Jesus, so that all may have life and live it abundantly. Thank you. May freedom and dignity multiply throughout the world, as witness to your love and compassion. Let the people sing. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment