Amidst all of the other news and noise, you may have heard something about the massive study of religious life in the US undertaken by the Pew Forum. Among the key findings: almost 30% of Americans have left the religion in which they were raised for another one, or for no affiliation. If one includes movement within Protestant denominations, that percentage increases to 44%. Almost 1/4 of young adults (18-29) claim no religious affiliation and although a third of American adults were raised as Catholic, only 1/4 of adult Americans are Catholic. This significant loss in numbers would be even greater if not for immigration. You can read more about the survey here.

Such surveys provide useful information for us as we think about St. James’ ministry in Greenville. While we live in an area that is more Protestant and more Evangelical than the rest of the country, Greenville is changing rapidly. The growing number of religiously unaffiliated people and the frequent movement between denominations and religions pose challenges to the Church. How can we reach out to those who are unaffiliated, especially those who have become disaffected from their religious upbringing? How can we make our worship, parish life, and ministries attractive to newcomers and visitors?

I haven’t read the report closely–my eyes often begin to glaze when dealing with too many statistics–but I am familiar with other surveys that focus on baby-boomers and post baby-boomers. Remarkably, these surveys have shown clearly that when following people over periods of time (longitudinal studies), many people move in and out of involvement in religious communities. We know that young families seek out the church, but these studies have shown that many young families disengage, and people later in life re-engage with the church. That’s partly why the Pew Survey found such a low affiliation among young adults.

We are living in a religious marketplace, and how the church responds to that reality will be key to its survival, both on the local and the global level.