2: Our Cultural Moment

OUR CULTURAL MOMENT

What Is Different about Our Time

When we’re focused on our own church experience and busy with our own ministries, it’s easy to assume unchurched adults are just the same as they ever were. And if that’s true, then what has always worked to bring them to church will work as well as it always has.

But with the aid of solid tracking research —a sort of cultural time-lapse photography —we can discern real and significant shifts in people’s attitudes, assumptions, allegiances, and behaviors. If we want to understand how to make a difference in our time for the sake of the gospel, we need a firm grip on what is happening. At Barna Group, we sometimes describe ourselves as “reality recognition artists.” We believe that reality is our friend. Unfortunately, it is hard for many of us to accept reality, especially when it disagrees with our preconceived notions and pet theories. That’s why solid research can help. Properly collected and well-analyzed data can take us above our limited, subjective experiences and give us a bird’s-eye view of the vast changes that have taken place in our collective culture.

Barna tracking research confirms that substantive changes have, in fact, occurred among the nation’s churchless adults over the last several decades. Here’s the big picture: Today’s unchurched are much less likely to come from a church background than ever before. Furthermore, the unchurched of today have different expectations of church involvement from those of previous decades. In this chapter, we hope to provide an overview of how the churchless today are different from their counterparts in the past when it comes to their attitudes toward the church. But first, let’s explore some of the ways our cultural landscape has changed for all of us, churched and churchless alike.

How Our Culture Is Changing

Secularization on the Rise

Imagine a continuum of cultural responsiveness to Christianity (see the following illustration). At the far left end of the continuum is antagonism toward Christianity and churches; at the far right is advocacy. The various points in between —rejection, resistance, and doubt to the left; indifference in the middle; and curiosity, interest, and engagement to the right —convey the positions people in our culture take toward Christianity and communities of Christian faith.

The Christian Faith/Church Adoption Continuum

{Insert continuum graphic “The Christian Faith/Church Adoption Continuum here}

This continuum could serve as the base for a curve on which we might plot the status of America’s adults, both churched and churchless. The resulting curve would illustrate the entire population’s balance of secular and biblical thinking and behavior. To gain insight into where the curve falls on such a continuum today, we created an aggregate, multidimensional metric designed to assess the level of what we call post-Christian culture in America. The scale is independent of how people categorize themselves. Instead, the measure is based on fifteen different variables related to people’s identity, beliefs, and behaviors, including belief in God, church attendance, beliefs about the Bible’s accuracy, and likelihood of volunteering at or donating to a church. To be classified as post-Christian, an individual satisfied 60 percent or more of the factors (nine or more out of fifteen). Highly post-Christian individuals —who fall on the antagonism-rejection end of the continuum —met 80 percent or more of the factors (twelve or more out of fifteen).[3]

When we applied this metric to the population at large in January 2013, we learned that nearly two-fifths (38 percent) of the nation’s adult population qualifies as post-Christian. That includes 10 percent of Americans who are highly post-Christian —that is, lacking engagement in twelve or more of the measures of belief, practice, or commitment. Another one-quarter (28 percent) was moderately post-Christian, landing on the resistance-doubt-indifference area of the continuum. Examined over time, the research shows that the proportion of highly secularized individuals is growing slowly but steadily.

In other words, in spite of our “Christian” self-descriptions, more than one-third of America’s adults are essentially secular in belief and practice. If nothing else, this helps explain why America has experienced a surge in unchurched people —and presages a continuing rise in this population.

Among the churchless, the proportions skew even more heavily to the left of the continuum. Overall, more than three-quarters of unchurched adults fall in the heavy-to-moderate range on the secularization scale. That compares to about one out of eight among the churched. Skeptics lead the secularization march: 74 percent are heavily secularized and 98 percent are in the moderate or higher category. (Barna Group classifies religious commitments into five categories: evangelicals, born-again Christians, notional Christians, adherents of non-Christian faiths, and skeptics. For comprehensive descriptions of these population segments, see chapter 6.)

As you might expect, the data show some striking generational differences when it comes to secularization, suggesting we should expect a continued shift away from a “Christian nation” in the years to come. The pattern is indisputable: The younger the generation, the more post-Christian it is. Nearly half (48 percent) of Mosaics qualify as post-Christian compared to two-fifths (40 percent) of Busters, one-third (35 percent) of Boomers, and one-quarter (28 percent) of Elders. (Mosaics, sometimes called Millennials, are those born between 1984 and 2002. Busters were born between 1965 and 1983, Boomers between 1946 and 1964, and Elders in 1945 or earlier.) This pattern corresponds to the increasing number of skeptics, particularly in the younger generations.

Estimates of Secularization

Level of Secularization

People Group

High

Moderate

Total

All US adults

10%

28%

38%

All unchurched

All churched (attended once or more in the past month)

Born again

Notional Christians

Other-faith adherents

Skeptics (atheist/agnostic)

Source: Barna Group

*Indicates less than one-half of one percent

The transition to a post-Christian mind-set and lifestyle has not happened overnight, of course. The secularization of America began decades ago —perhaps triggered by the rebellion of the Baby Boomers in the 1960s —and has continued to gain momentum into the twenty-first century. We can certainly trace the increase of rebellious attitudes and behaviors over the past fifty years —and as today’s young adults show, secularization is the norm, not the exception.

Everything Digital

In the last two decades, three network television stations have morphed into hundreds of digital channels. A handful of reading formats —newspapers, books, magazines —have given birth to new media (e-readers, websites) and social media (blogs, Facebook, Twitter). With DVRs, digital season passes, massive multiplayer online gaming, and tablet computers, consumers —both churchless and churched alike —have access to more content and information than anyone could hope to absorb and assimilate. So much demands our attention that, as a culture, we are experiencing an epidemic of distraction. Virtually every facet of our lives receives less concentrated attention than it did two decades ago.

People are more likely than ever to feel they are too busy. They have more commitments, more activities (online and off) that chew up valuable time. When you combine increasing indifference toward church and a culture of short attention spans, you get a lot of people who think they don’t have time for church. You also end up with less frequent face time to reach the churchless and form the worldviews of the churched.

Another aspect of the digital shift is the expectation, especially among young people, that they can and should contribute, not just consume. Online technologies such as Instagram, YouTube and Vimeo, BuzzFeed and Reddit, even fan fiction forums, enable any connected person to add his or her image, idea, or opinion to the digital mix. If you consider how most churches deliver content —appointing one person as the authority and encouraging everyone else to sit (consume) quietly while he or she speaks —it is easy to see how that delivery system may come into conflict with changing cultural expectations.

One big upside to digital connectedness is access to people, ideas, and information from all over the world. Twenty years ago, churchgoers had to wait for a visit from the missionaries they supported to learn about the Kingdom impact being made around the world. Today, Christians from opposite sides of the globe can connect with each other on Facebook and Twitter, or through video calling services such as Skype and FaceTime. The church stretches from one corner of the earth to the other, and for the first time, believers can worship together and fellowship with one another in spite of the many miles that separate them.

Many churches are reaching out digitally through websites, podcasts, and social media. The data suggest these tools may be making incremental gains with young churchgoers, but rarely finding traction with churchless adults. This is, in large part, because young unchurched adults don’t search for much spiritual content: Just 6 percent report going online to search for faith-related information in a typical week. Faith communities might do well to consider how to channel their digital resources toward engaging with and equipping young Christians to connect with their fellow digital natives.

Changing Self-Perceptions

Barna tracking data since the early 2000s show shifts in how Americans see themselves. While a healthy majority (82 percent) say they are happy, this is a 10 percentage point decrease from a decade ago, when 92 percent of Americans defined themselves in that way. With diminished happiness has come rising loneliness —in the early 2000s, just 12 percent reported being lonely; today, that percentage has grown to 20 percent —as well as stress. A decade ago, 29 percent of adults reported being stressed out. After 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the Great Recession of 2008, whose effects are still being felt across the country, 35 percent of Americans now define themselves as stressed out. In addition, the number of people who are concerned about the future has risen substantially, from 64 percent at the turn of the century to 77 percent today.

It is interesting to note that as a culture we have become lonelier even as we have become more connected. In 2012, MIT professor Sherry Turkle gave a TED Talk on the release of her book Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other.[4] Fifteen years before, Turkle had given one of the first TED Talks, hailing the possibility of social media that would bring people together and help them build deep and lasting relationships through online technology. But after a decade and a half studying the effects of social media on individuals and relationships, Turkle’s views have radically changed. Instead of noting greater connectedness and deeper relationships, her findings reveal that dissatisfaction and alienation have risen in tandem with our adoption of social media.[5]

The group most likely to see themselves as lonely, stressed out, and concerned about the future is the unmarried, whether divorced or never headed to the altar. While marriage is not the solution to every problem (as any married person can tell you), it is likely we will see these psychographic markers increase if the cultural popularity of marriage continues to decline.

How Attitudes toward Church Are Changing

Churchgoing No Longer Mainstream

Churchgoing is slowly but incontrovertibly losing its role as a normative part of American life. In the 1990s, roughly one out of every seven unchurched adults had never experienced regular church attendance. Today, that percentage has increased to nearly one-quarter. Buried within these numbers are at least two important conclusions: (1) church is becoming increasingly unfamiliar to millions of Americans, and yet (2) the churchless are still largely comprised of de-churched adults.

This latter conclusion may be hard for many churchgoing Christians to believe. But it’s true: Even though the cultural trend is toward less church-friendliness overall, the vast majority of unchurched adults still have at least some level of personal experience in a church.

Churchgoing Is Losing Traction

Percentage of all US adults

{Insert bar graph “Churchgoing Is Losing Traction”}

Source: Barna Group annual OmniPoll

Skepticism toward the Contribution of Churches to Society

Most unchurched adults in the United States perceive churches with benign favorability or indifference. When asked if they believe whether a church is a favorable or an unfavorable presence in a community, most churchless adults are either mildly positive or indifferent. One-fourth (28 percent) of the unchurched are very favorable toward churches and two-fifths (38 percent) are somewhat favorable. Another one-fourth (28 percent) express a neutral opinion of churches today. Only 7 percent of unchurched adults believe that a church is a negative factor for a community.

Tracking data show that views about local churches have not changed substantially in the last two decades. Today’s churchless adults are not remarkably less favorable toward churches in their community; if anything, there is simply a growing “yawn,” with 25 percent expressing they don’t know whether they have favorable or unfavorable impressions. This is up slightly from 21 percent in 1993. Yet the research also provides insights into those who are least favorable toward local churches. This includes men, Mosaics (ages eighteen to thirty), never-marrieds, residents of the Northeast, atheists and agnostics, non-registered voters, and Asians. On the other hand, women, Elders (sixty-nine-plus), divorced adults, residents of the South, born-again Christians, and political conservatives are among the most favorable toward churches.

Although many of the churchless hold positive views of churches, a substantial number also have no idea what Christians have accomplished in the nation, either for the better or for the worse. When the unchurched were asked to describe what they believe are the positive and negative contributions of Christianity in America, almost half (49 percent) could not identify a single favorable impact of the Christian community, while nearly two-fifths (37 percent) were unable to identify a negative impact. Of those who could identify one way Christians contribute to the common good, the unchurched appreciate their influence when it comes to serving the poor and disadvantaged (22 percent), bolstering morals and values (10 percent), and helping people believe in God (8 percent). Among those who had a complaint about Christians in society, the unchurched were least favorably disposed toward violence in the name of Christ (18 percent), the church’s stand against gay marriage (15 percent), sexual abuse scandals (13 percent), and being involved in politics (10 percent).

Greatest Success/Positive Contribution of Christian Population to America

Question: What has been the greatest success or positive contribution of the Christian population to America during the past few years?

Churched

Unchurched

Helping people believe in God/evangelism

21%

Having traditional morals/values

Preventing abortion

Opposing gay marriage; importance of traditional marriage

Serving the poor/underprivileged

None/no positive contributions

Not sure

N =

541

368

Source: Barna Group annual OmniPoll 2-10, August 2010, N=1002. Survey also included minimally churched.

Greatest Failure/Negative Contribution of Christian Population to America

Question: What has been the greatest failure or negative contribution of the Christian population to America during the past few years?

Churched

Unchurched

People committing acts of violence/hate in the name of Christ

21%

18%

Too political, should not be involved in politics

Against gay marriage, keeping gays from getting married

Sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic church

Need to be more outspoken, stand up for important issues, be more assertive

Don’t reflect Christ/don’t stand up for Christ/losing standards and becoming more like the world

Critical/intolerant/bigotry

None/no negative contributions

Not sure

N =

541

368

Source: OmniPoll 2-10, August 2010, N = 1002. Survey also included minimally churched.

While many unchurched cannot name a positive impact of which they are already aware, there are a number of contributions they would like to see from local churches, including helping serve the poor and disadvantaged in the community (25 percent); serving youth, families, and the elderly in their area (14 percent); cultivating biblical values (10 percent); and assisting those in recovery (8 percent).

The Common Good: How Churches Can Contribute Positively to Their Communities

Question: Many churches and faith leaders want to contribute positively to the common good of their communities. What does your community need, if anything, that you feel churches could provide?

(Open-ended query; responses add up to more than 100 percent because respondents could offer more than one answer.)

Churched

Unchurched

Addressing poverty

31%

25%

Serving youth/families/elderly

Cultivating biblical values

Assisting those in recovery

Doing ministry, introducing people to God

Addressing workplace, educational, financial issues

Serving the community

Being inclusive

Engaging politically

Not sure, nothing

N =

541

368

Source: Barna Group annual OmniPoll 2-10, August 2010, N=1002. Survey also included minimally churched.

Different Expectations of Church Involvement

Another intriguing shift among the churchless has to do with their expectations of church involvement. In the early 1990s, our research showed that nearly seven out of ten adults, if they were to visit a church, would be most interested in attending the Sunday service. Today, weekend worship services remain the most common entry experience, but just slightly; now, only 57 percent of churchless adults say they would be interested in Sunday worship as their starting point. Today’s unchurched are more likely to say they are simply not sure, reflecting their disinterest in churches generally, or are more likely to say they would prefer attending some activity other than the Sunday service.

A similar shift is afoot in terms of the number of churches they would attend. The churchless were asked in both 1993 and in 2011 if they would prefer to be involved in one church or multiple churches in their area. Two decades ago, even the unchurched expressed some sense of church loyalty (albeit hypothetical): 85 percent said they would expect to attend just one congregation. The current study reflects a slight loosening of this presumed loyalty, but the more notable shift is among those who don’t have a preference or who aren’t sure. Together, these percentages doubled from 8 percent to 16 percent, reflecting growing cultural indifference to church involvement.

People Are Less Open to the Idea of Church

Finally, our research shows that the unchurched are becoming less responsive to churches’ efforts to connect with them. For example, conventional wisdom says the best way to get people to visit a church is to have friends invite them —and the conventional wisdom is right. The churchless folks we interviewed were most open to “a friend of yours inviting you to attend a local church,” with one-fifth expressing strong interest and nearly half willing to consider a church based on this factor. An invitation from a friend is the top-rated way churches can establish connections with the unchurched.

However, while the conventional wisdom remains true today, the road ahead shows challenging signs. Barna Group’s trend data raise questions about the long-term durability of this approach. Twenty years ago, two-thirds of churchless Americans were open to being invited to church by a friend. Today, that percentage has slipped to less than half.

It’s not only the efficacy of personal invitations that is changing. Barna’s tracking data stretching back to the 1990s reveal a slow-growing calcification, or hardening, of the unchurched toward churches. While the churchless continue to show some openness to high-touch, relational connections —pastoral home visits (27 percent), a phone call from a church (24 percent), a survey conducted with them about their interests (21 percent) —they are also increasingly resistant to other forms of outreach. We discovered declines for virtually every type of advertising, including TV, radio, or newspaper (from 20 percent to 18 percent), direct mailings (from 24 percent to 16 percent), and billboard ads (from 21 percent to 14 percent).

Today’s Unchurched: More Resistant to Church

Question: There are many different ways a church in your community might let you know more about their church and their services. Let’s talk about churches you have never visited before. Would each of the following make you more or less interested in visiting that church?

(Multiple response)

1993

2011

A friend of yours invited you to attend a local church

65%

47%

A pastor or a member of a church came to your home to tell you about the church, and invited you to attend

Someone from a church in your community called you on the phone to tell you about the church, and invited you to attend

A representative of the church came to your home, conducted a survey about your church attendance and interests, then invited you to attend their church

You knew a church had a significant online social web presence

N/A

You saw or heard advertising for a church on TV, in a newspaper, or on the radio

You received information about a church through the mail

You saw advertising for the church on a billboard in your community

These percentages represent respondents who said the methods would make them either “much more interested” or “a little more interested” in visiting the church.

Reflecting on Change

Our research suggests a growing indifference toward churches among the unchurched. The gap between the churched and the churchless is growing, and it appears that Christian communities of faith will struggle more than ever to engage the outsiders in their neighborhood, town, or city.

Why are some of these changes taking place? Barna research cannot prove causation, given the nature of polling and the complex dynamics of cultural and spiritual change. However, we can point to possible underlying trends. We believe the cultural pressure to tolerate other faith views, to live and let live, is likely one factor. This affects both the churchless (many, as we will see, are reluctant to attach themselves to a group of people perceived as rigid and exclusive) and the churched (who, with good reason, do not want to hurt or offend their unchurched friends).

This dynamic does not mean we should give up inviting our unchurched friends to services and events with our faith community. But it does mean we should be wary about “using” our relationships with churchless friends as means to the end of getting them to church. In fact, when we asked pastors and church leaders to share what is working to connect with unchurched people in their surrounding community, Michael Hildago, pastor of a growing church in urban Denver, offered this: “Listen to them. I just had someone tell me, ‘I never feel like I’m a project when I’m at your church.’ Rather, people feel embraced and, more importantly, understood, because we do all we can to listen.” The key, of course, is loving the churchless for who they are rather than for what they can offer our church, and we’ll look at more specific ways to do that in the final chapter. Seeking to genuinely hear and understand someone leaves no room for ulterior motives, and it does sometimes open the door to deeper conversations about faith and Christian community.

John Chandler, who leads a Christian community in Austin, Texas, shared this:

We’ve by far had the most success inviting people into our community life by inviting them to serve alongside us. As a matter of fact, that’s about the only thing that’s worked consistently as far as “official” church activities go. The other thing that has worked is parties —birthday parties, Super Bowl parties —where we invite churched friends and unchurched friends just to connect.

That’s quite a bit different from the old standby, “Invite a friend to church on Sunday.” Encouraging congregants to invite their friends and family to church remains important, but we also need to examine our underlying motives and our theology of evangelism. Barna data show that American Christians are increasingly resistant to participation in faith-sharing activities. Because of a cultural norm that discourages challenging others’ beliefs, many of us are reluctant to witness to those in our sphere of influence. How can we recapture an urgency to fulfill the Great Commission while treating our churchless friends with respect? Wrestling with answers to this question will help prepare your church community to engage more meaningfully with unchurched people.

The cumulative effect of the monumental cultural changes that have swept over us during recent decades is a widening gap, both real and perceived, between the churched and the churchless. To many faithful churchgoers, the unchurched seem increasingly alien and difficult to understand, while the churchless feel ever more comfortable outside a faith community. Yet while the culture will continue to change, our calling as the body of Christ has not and will not. It is our hope that the following chapters will equip you to move forward in ministry and outward in mission.

Forward Thinking

• What stands out to you the most about the cultural changes that have taken place over the past twenty years? Do you feel primarily wary and skeptical about these changes, or primarily eager and confident? Why?

• What does your church contribute to your community? How do you see the church in the United States impacting the nation?

• What are the main ways your faith community tries to connect with unchurched people? In light of the data regarding how churchless people respond to various methods of connection (such as invitations from friends, phone calls, and advertising), how do you need to change the focus of your efforts to be most effective?

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