A Jewish Pep Talk For Enervated Evangelicals
We understand that you are feeling a bit overwhelmed by recent events that threaten to marginalize you. We'd like to offer a bit of empathy, and if it is not too presumptuous, some valuable experience and tools as well. You see, we've been there before.
First came the recent Pew study entitled "America's Changing Religious Landscape." Pew demonstrates that more Christians continue to live in the US than any other country in the world. About seven out of 10 Americans call themselves Christian.
But it also found that the percentage of adults (ages 18 and older) who describe themselves as Christians has dropped by nearly eight percentage points in just seven years, while the percentage of Americans who are religiously unaffiliated — describing themselves as atheist, agnostic or "nothing in particular" — has jumped more than six points. Losses are severe among mainline Protestants and Catholics. Lots of Christians are understandably worried about this trend.
Evangelicals, however, did much better. Your hard numbers actually improved. But those of us who have evangelical friends know that you, too, are wondering whether the trends towards unbelief (or at least no church affiliation) will catch up with you as well. Your retention rate of young people — one number bandied about is 69%, which means losing one person in three — is already keeping you up nights.
