■ A study of campus ministries in the U.S. finds that today’s college students are less likely to be seeking spiritual experiences and teachings in joining these ministries than looking for “a home away from home” that provides a source of social support. The five-year study, directed by John Schmalzbauer at the University of Missouri, […]
■ Recent church planting efforts tend to be near each other and are concentrated in Northeastern and West Coast areas as well as Florida and Texas, a new analysis finds. In his newsletter Graphs about Religion (July 25), Ryan Burge discusses the results of his study of two leading church planting networks, Acts 29 and […]
■ American women have recently been showing high rates of disaffiliation from religion, although they are still more likely to stay in their childhood religion compared to men. In his newsletter Graphs About Religion (June 27), Ryan Burge reports that the gender gap on religion remains. “In recent decades, evangelical retention was about four points […]
■ A new analysis of survey data suggests that the growth of the non-affiliated or “nones” may be slowing down. In his newsletter Graphs about Religion (May 20), Ryan Burge reports finding a fairly consistent slowdown in the percentage of Americans who claim no religion, based on data from Pew, the General Social Survey (GSS), […]
Churchgoing African Americans’ longtime allegiance to the Democratic party is showing some cracks, according to an analysis by Ryan Burge in his newsletter Graphs about Religion (April 15). “Religiously active Black Protestants have never really been that comfortable with where the Democratic party is headed on certain cultural issues (like abortion), and this may actually […]
High school students’ religious attendance and the importance they assign to religion in their lives have undergone significant declines over the last 27 years. In his newsletter Graphs about Religion (March 7), Ryan Burge analyzes datasets from the annual survey of high school students, “Monitoring the Future,” from 1995 and 2022, focusing on high school […]
One of the first cross-national studies on abortion and religion finds that the religious or secular character of nations’ cultures has more influence on abortion attitudes than religious affiliation. The study, conducted by sociologist Amy Adamczyk of the City University of New York, was presented at a seminar at New York’s Columbia University in mid-February, […]
More than 90 percent of American adults support religious pluralism, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty found in its latest Religious Freedom Index. In its fifth edition of the annual index, Becket polled respondents on six dimensions of religious freedom, including religious pluralism, religion and policy, religious sharing, religion and society, church and state, and […]
A recent Pew Research Center survey suggests that beliefs in spirits or a spiritual realm beyond this world are widespread, even among those who don’t consider themselves religious. The survey finds that 83 percent of all U.S. adults believe people have a soul or spirit in addition to their physical body, while 81 percent say […]
The share of new U.S. Catholic priests identifying as theologically “progressive” has dropped so low that the tendency has “all but vanished,” a study finds. The study, conducted by The Catholic Project at The Catholic University of America, is based on a new analysis of the project’s 2022 National Study of Catholic Priests. Billed as […]
