ConvergeUSA Blog

Seven Faith Tribes "Casual or Captive" - Jay Bauman

Senior researcher George Barna (whom I respect but certainly not always agreed with) has just produced some interesting research regarding the 7 Faith Tribes that the majority of Americans belong to.  In it, we see that approximately 66% of Americans fall into the "Casual Christian" faith tribe.   That is 2 of every 3 Americans.   Casual Christians, as opposed to Captive Christians, are defined in the following way:

"Christianity is a low-risk, predictable proposition for this tribe, providing a faith perspective that is not demanding. A Casual Christian can be all the things that they esteem: a nice human being, a family person, religious, an exemplary citizen, a reliable employee – and never have to publicly defend or represent difficult moral or social positions or even lose much sleep over their private choices as long as they mean well and generally do their best. From their perspective, their brand of faith practice is genuine, realistic and practical. To them, Casual Christianity is the best of all worlds; it encourages them to be a better person than if they had been irreligious, yet it is not a faith into which they feel compelled to heavily invest themselves."

Barna goes on to say...  Casual Christians like their brand of faith because of "The comfort that this approach provides. It offers them life insights if they choose to accept them, gives them a community of relationships if they desire such, fulfills their inner need to have some type of connection with a deity, and provides the image of being a decent, faith-friendly person. Because Casuals do not view matters of faith as central to one’s purpose or success in life, this brand of Christianity supplies the multi-faceted levels of satisfaction and assurance that they desire."

I wonder what the Apostle Paul would say about Christianity being a low-risk, predictable proposition?  HT

Jay Bauman is Executive Pastor, CrossPointe Church, Orlando FL

Fewer Americans Call Themselves Christian

The United States has grown less religious in the last two decades, a new study shows, with a 10 percent drop in the number of people who call themselves Christians and increases in all 50 states among those who are not aligned with any faith.

Between 1990 and 2008, the percentage of Americans who identified themselves as Christian dropped from 86 percent to 76 percent, reports the American Religious Identification Survey, released March 9.

The group that researchers call the "Nones" -- atheists, agnostics, and other secularists -- have almost doubled in that time period, from 8.2 percent to 15 percent. And, in a further indication of growing secularism, more than a quarter of Americans -- 27 percent -- said they do not expect to have a religious funeral when they die.

"Traditionally, historically, people are interested in their immortal soul, salvation, heaven and hell," said Barry Kosmin, the co-author of the survey and director of the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture at Trinity College in Connecticut. "If you don't have a religious funeral, you're probably not interested in heaven and hell."

The survey of more than 54,000 respondents followed similar large studies in 2001 and in 1990. Though the largest increase in "Nones" occurred between 1990 and 2001 (from 8.2 percent to 14.1 percent), Kosmin said more people have been willing to identify themselves as atheist or agnostic in the last 7 years.

The greatest percentage of "Nones" are in New England, followed by the Pacific Northwest. Beyond identifying the increased secular nature of the country, the survey found a surge in the number of people who called themselves "nondenominational Christians," from less than 200,000 in 1990 to more than 8 million in 2008. (HT)

See the complete report.

Monthly Podcast - Historical Perspective on TeAmerica

Our monthly podcasts are designed to inform, inspire and ignite the hearts of key movement leaders throughout our nation.  Each month we are going to address the key missional issues that pastors and planters wrestle with as they seek to align themselves and their church in the redemptive flow of God. 

This month we have Paul Johnson, Senior Vice-President of the Converge Worldwide/BGC, Tom Nebel, the Director of Global Church Planting and Leadership Development and Gary Rohrmayer, the National Director of ConvergeUSA.  Listen in as they have an informative conversation on the history of TeAmerica and the future of ConvergeUSA.

Click Here to Listen