The Pew Forum this week came out with a survey on the religious landscape of the U.S. Here are some of their basic findings.

  • The U.S. is on the verge of becoming a minority Protestant country. The current percentage stands at only 51%.
  • 16% of adults say they are not affiliated with any particular faith which is more than double the number of adults who say they were not affiliated with any faith as a child.
  • 28% of people have left the faith in which they were raised for another faith or no religion at all.
  • If that previous number included people who move from one Protestant denomination to another it would jump to 44%.
  • Only 26% of people in Illinois (supposed heart of the Bible belt) are Evangelical Protestants.

Within the report they use the word “churn” to describe what’s taking place across American churches. The idea behind the word is that churches aren’t growing, they’re just simply exchanging one participant for another from another church.

Here’s what struck me: The number of people who have switched faiths is about the same number of people who change spouses and change careers. We’re consistently inconsistent and ultimately fairly uncommitted . . . to anything. Marriages usually ended because of because of finances, intimacy, or communication. Careers are changed because of lack of fulfillment or opportunity. Churches are changed because of worship styles, carpet colors, and programs that were dismissed. At the end of the day, here’s what I really wonder, “Are marriages, careers, and faith really undone by anything else besides . . . selfishness?”