RACHAEL\u2019S QUESTION:<\/p>\n
In the recent Pew survey showing America\u2019s religious changes, how were nondenominational churches categorized?<\/p>\n
THE RELIGION GUY\u2019S ANSWER:<\/p>\n
Rachael asked previously what America\u2019s biggest Christian groups are, and now has another demographic item about the Pew Research Center\u2019s important \u201cReligious Landscape Study,\u201d which continues to spur discussion. (Text: www.pewforum.org\/files\/2015\/05\/RLS-05-08-full-report.pdf. This blog scanned key findings May 16). Pew\u2019s 2014 polling tells us how 35,071 U.S. adults identify themselves on religion, with important new fundings about these independent (a.k.a. \u201cnondenominational\u201d or \u201cinterdenominational\u201d) local congregations without national affiliations. The huge sample size provides accurate breakdowns for groups, and Pew\u2019s similar survey in 2007 shows trends over time.<\/p>\n
The 2014 survey establishes independent congregations as a growing factor in American life and American religious life. By definition, they\u2019re Protestant (neither Catholic nor Orthodox). U.S. Protestantism gets more complicated by the year and because they\u2019re nearly impossible to track the independents are often neglected in religious analyses. Now, thanks to Pew, there\u2019s solid current data. Since 2007 the independents have posted \u201cthe most significant growth\u201d of any U.S. Protestant segment. Today, 6.2 percent of all adults (and 13 percent of Protestants) identify this way, a major increase from 4.5 percent of adults (and 9 percent of Protestants) in 2007.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re talking about something like 15 million adults. The independents manage considerable success in the nation\u2019s fluid and competitive religious marketplace despite the increase of non-religious Americans. Some 5.3 percent of independent members are converts raised in other religious groups or no religion. Pew figures the independent category \u201cgains\u00a0roughly five adherents through religious switching for every adherent it loses.\u201d<\/p>\n
A lopsided 78 percent of those in independent congregations identify as \u201cevangelical\u201d (including \u201ccharismatic\u201d and \u201cfundamentalist\u201d subcategories) and they make up 19 percent of U.S. evangelicals, up from 13 percent s of 2007. Meanwhile, 16 percent of independents are \u201cmainline\u201d Protestants and 6 percent belong to \u201chistorically black\u201d churches. In explaining those categories, Pew says \u201cAmerican Protestantism is best understood not as a single religious tradition but rather as three distinct traditions\u201d that \u201cshare\u00a0similar beliefs, practices and histories,\u201d as follows:<\/p>\n
\u2014 \u201cEvangelicals,\u201d the largest category with an estimated 62 million adults, are now the clear majority (55 percent) of U.S. Protestants. Pew says these conservatives say personal belief in Jesus Christ is the one way to salvation, emphasize evangelism, and have distinct roots.<\/p>\n
\u2014 \u201cMainline\u201d Protestants, roughly 36 million, are in churches Pew describes as \u201cless exclusionary\u201d in beliefs with an emphasis on \u201csocial reform.\u201d [The Religion Guy\u2019s quick definition of \u201cmainline\u201d is mostly the predominantly white Protestant denominations in the National Council of Churches, including the American Baptist Churches, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church (USA), United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church, and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America \u2014 not defined as \u201cevangelical\u201d by Pew.]<\/em><\/p>\n \u2014 Then some 16 million Protestants are in the \u201chistorically black\u201d church bodies uniquely shaped by a history of slavery and segregation.<\/p>\n A further complication is that self-identified \u201cevangelicals\u201d also make up 27 percent of members in \u201cmainline\u201d churches and 72 percent in black churches. The mainliners\u00a0dropped by\u00a0an estimated 5 million in membership since 2007 while the black Protestants held steady and evangelicals gained by some 2 million. However the largest evangelical denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, just reported a one-year membership decrease of 1.5 percent.<\/p>\n Pew\u2019s respondents were pressed to report membership in a specific congregation and denomination, then placed into these three categories with expert guidance. For example, Pew lists 165 varieties of evangelicals. Protestants who didn\u2019t know their exact affiliation were categorized on the basis of race and whether they described themselves as \u201cborn-again or evangelical Christian.\u201d<\/p>\n The independents are a growing force but within a shrinking faith. Protestantism dominated American culture from Jamestown and Plymouth till recent decades when its share of the U.S. population gradually declined alongside increases for non-Christian, unaffiliated, and anti-religious Americans. In Pew\u2019s 2007 poll a bare 51.3 percent majority of Americans called themselves Protestant and that\u2019s now down to 46.5 percent.<\/p>\n Some added notes. One can quibble. For instance, Pew coinsiders all Friends (Quakers) mainliners whereas some are evangelicals. But this is an unusually savvy and precise accounting. Pew correctly observes that the general religious labels in many polls tell us little. If someone is \u201cBaptist,\u201d does that mean Southern Baptist (evangelical), American Baptist (mainline with an evangelical element), or National Baptist (historically black)? Or if \u201cPresbyterian,\u201d is that the mainline, increasingly liberal and notably declining Presbyterian Church (USA)? Or the smaller, staunchly conservative, and expanding Presbyterian Church in America? Big difference.<\/p>\n Pew\u2019s reporting so far emphasizes religious identifications. Watch for future releases about Americans\u2019 religious beliefs and practices.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" RACHAEL\u2019S QUESTION: In the recent Pew survey showing America\u2019s religious changes, how were nondenominational churches categorized? THE RELIGION GUY\u2019S ANSWER: Rachael asked previously what America\u2019s biggest Christian groups are, and now has another demographic item about the Pew Research Center\u2019s important \u201cReligious Landscape Study,\u201d which continues to spur discussion. (Text: www.pewforum.org\/files\/2015\/05\/RLS-05-08-full-report.pdf. This blog scanned key […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1275,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n