BishopAccountability.org
	Faith Is Fluid to Many in US Nearly Half Have Switched or Left By Eric Gorski Cincinnati Enquirer February 26, 2008 http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080226/NEWS01/802260356/-1/CINCI The U.S. religious marketplace is extremely volatile, with nearly half of American adults leaving the faith tradition of their upbringing to either switch allegiances or abandon religious affiliation altogether, a new survey finds. The study released Monday by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life is unusual for it scope, relying on interviews with more than 35,000 adults to document a diverse and dynamic U.S. religious population. While much of the study confirms earlier findings - mainline Protestant churches are in decline, nondenominational churches are gaining and the ranks of the unaffiliated are growing - it also provides a deeper look. "The American religious economy is like a marketplace - very dynamic, very competitive," said Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum. "Everyone is losing, everyone is gaining. There are net winners and losers, but no one can stand still. Those groups that are losing significant numbers have to recoup them to stay vibrant." The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey estimates the United States is 78 percent Christian and about to lose its Protestant majority, at 51 percent and slipping. More than one-quarter of American adults have left the faith of their childhood for another religion or none at all, the survey found. Moves from one Protestant denomination to another raise that to 44 percent. One in four adults ages 18 to 29 claim no affiliation. That group includes Bonnie Jean Feldkamp, 32, of Amelia, who was raised Catholic but "found myself going through the motions" and left the church. "I do believe in God and I consider myself a spiritual person," she said. "I believe that when you choose your religion or denomination, you are not choosing your God, you are choosing your way of expression." Penn State University sociologist Roger Finke consulted in the Pew survey planning. He said, "In the past, certain religions had a real holding power, where people from one generation to the next would stay. Right now, there is a dropping confidence in organized religion, especially in the traditional religious forms." Lugo said the 44 percent figure is "a very conservative estimate," and more research is planned to determine the causes. "It does seem in keeping with the high tolerance among Americans for change," Lugo said. "People move a lot, people change jobs a lot. It's a very fluid society." The religious demographic benefiting the most from this religious churn is those who claim no religious affiliation. Three times as many people are moving into that category than out of it. The majority of the unaffiliated - 12 percent of the overall population - describe their religion as "nothing in particular," and about half of those say faith is at least somewhat important to them. Atheists or agnostics account for 4 percent of the total population. The Roman Catholic Church has lost more members than any faith tradition because of affiliation swapping, the survey found. While nearly one in three Americans were raised Catholic, fewer than one in four say they're Catholic today. That means roughly 10 percent of all Americans are ex-Catholics. Reasons for leaving vary. Janet Steele of Springfield Township cites the priest sex abuse scandal and the church's teachings on birth control among the reasons she's no longer Catholic. Her family joined Forest Chapel United Methodist Church in Forest Park, where she is now lay leader. The share of the population that identifies as Catholic, however, has remained fairly stable, thanks to an influx of immigrant Catholics, mostly from Latin America. Nearly half of all Catholics under 30 are Hispanic, the survey found. The Archdiocese of Cincinnati has about 500,000 parishioners in 19 counties, spokesman Dan Andriacco says. The biggest drop in recent years, from 542,000 parishioners to 511,000, occurred from 1995 to 2000. But that was before publicity surrounding the clergy sex abuse scandals, he noted. Across the river, the Diocese of Covington, which covers 14 counties, has close to 90,000 parishioners, a modest rise in recent years, spokesman Tim Fitzgerald said. On the Protestant side, changes in affiliation are swelling the ranks of nondenominational churches, while Baptist and Methodist traditions are showing net losses. Among the most successful nondenominational churches locally is Crossroads in Oakley, which began 12 years ago with a handful of people in a rented room. Now, weekend services attract about 8,000 to 10,000, says Crossroads communications director Matt Chandler. "We certainly have never taken a stance that we're against anything that other denominations are doing," Chandler said. "It's just a matter of realizing there are a whole lot more commonalities than there are differences, and we want to be a place that's as welcoming as we can be to anyone who wants to have a safe place to explore questions about God." Jennifer Tewksbury, 36, of Loveland, is a former Catholic who says she joined Crossroads because its message is relevant and inspiring for her family. "They do a great job with my children, too," she said. They are ages 6, 8 and 9, and "love to go to church, and they like to bring their friends." Many Americans have vague denominational ties at best. People who call themselves "just a Protestant," in fact, account for nearly 10 percent of all Protestants. Although evangelical churches strive to win new believers from the "unchurched," the survey found most converts to evangelical churches were raised Protestant. Hindus claimed the highest retention of childhood members, at 84 percent. The group with the worst retention is one of the fastest growing - Jehovah's Witnesses. Only 37 percent of those raised in the sect known for door-to-door proselytizing said they remain members. More people identified themselves as Buddhist than as Muslim, although both were small - less than 1 percent. Jews accounted for 1.7 percent of the population.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.