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Baylor professor disputes reports of religious, church decline

Discussion in 'General Baptist Discussions' started by Revmitchell, Sep 29, 2014.

  1. Revmitchell

    Revmitchell Well-Known Member
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    Contrary to popular belief — and media reports — Millennials and other young people are not abandoning church, says Baylor University professor Byron Johnson. And the so-called “nones” are not quite as religiously unaffiliated as many think.

    By Terry Goodrich

    Reports of religion’s demise have been greatly exaggerated, says Byron Johnson, co-director of Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion.

    Close examination of data from the General Social Survey and other data sources show that across 40 years, church attendance has varied only slightly, Johnson wrote in the Heritage Foundation’s recently published 2014 Index of Culture and Opportunity: The Social and Economic Trends that Shape America.

    Headlines are “misleading, inaccurate and biased,” Johnson wrote, referring to reports that Millennials are leaving the faith of their parents; that young people under 30 are deserting the church; that women are rapidly falling away from religion; and that the “nones” — those without religious affiliations — have doubled in recent decades.

    Johnson challenges media accounts that suggest a consistent — if not dramatic — decline of faith in the nation’s culture. He said that analyses of data from the General Social Survey and data from the Baylor Religion Survey support trends opposed to those being commonly reported.

    http://www.abpnews.com/culture/soci...disputes-reports-of-religious-church-decline#
     
  2. Earth Wind and Fire

    Earth Wind and Fire Well-Known Member
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    Can we extrapolate from this that the key to church survival is getting married and having kids?
     
  3. go2church

    go2church Active Member
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    According to some that would be the case. There have been some well known Baptists who have said as much. That however seems as simplistic as the "all the churches are declining" mantra we have been hearing. Sure there is a nugget of truth there, but it's a bit more nuanced and complicated than that.

    There have been studies that show declining attendance has to do with economics. The more wealth that people have the less kids they have, the less kids they have, over time, you get lower attendance.

    Have to careful drawing too many hard and fast conclusions, they are statics and in the right hands, they can be made to sing whatever tune you're looking to hear.
     
  4. Earth Wind and Fire

    Earth Wind and Fire Well-Known Member
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    I'm just personally grieved that there are full churches that never, or hardly go out to the community. You would have thought that Christian Charity & Mercy (and fulfilling the Great Commission) would have more of an impact on local churches trying to emulate Christ. Nobody (it appears) cares to involve themselves into the community. I know that that has been a common complaint among the folks that I call on, I.E. there is no presence of Christ in the street. Not anymore.
     
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