Spiritual but Not Religious -- trending upwards?


We keep hearing it -- people calling themselves, "spiritual but not religious." It's a growing trend, though by no means is it becoming a dominant force. Mark Chaves of Duke Divinity School, offers a take on this -- about 18% of those 18-29 describe themselves in this way.

Chaves offers some thoughts on what all of this means for the church and the nation, going forward.

What does the growth of this “spiritual but not religious” segment of the population mean for organized religion in the United States? If what people mean when they say they are spiritual but not religious is that they are generally concerned with spiritual matters (whatever that means) but they are not interested in organized religion, then this trend indicates a growing minority of the population whose spiritual inclinations do not lead them to become involved in churches, synagogues, or mosques. This kind of generic, diffuse, and unorganized “spirituality” may provide a growing market for certain kinds of religious products, such as self-help books with spiritual themes, but, even if it continues to rise, it is difficult to see it becoming a solid foundation for new kinds of religious institutions or new forms of religious collective action.

From the standpoint of the institutional church, we need to ask -- where are the trends going? This segment is still small, but is its trajectory going to continue to move upwards at the same rate -- doubling over a 10 year period?

To read more, check out the link below.

Duke Divinity Call & Response Blog | Faith & Leadership | Mark Chaves: We're even more spiritual; even less religious

Comments

George said…
At about the time of the first bar on your graph, I can remember a Methodist minister telling me he was concerned about a disturbing trend -- the church was losing its young people -- and, if the trend continued, there was trouble on the horizon. From the graph you present, and from what Clayton has written on another site (experts predicting up to two-thirds of mainstream churches being forced to close their doors in the next twenty years), it seems the Methodist minister's concern was more than justified, even way back then.

A trend has a habit of continuing to move in the direction of the trend, that's why it's called a trend. Self-reinforcing, if it is ever allowed to become a long-term trend, it entrenches itself in the minds of all and takes on a life of its own. When that happens, a pretty strong and sustained counter-force is required in order to reverse the move.

Chaves sounds like he is in denial. This trend hasn't reached critical mass, yet, but, without more Claytons and open-minded Pastor Bobs, it will. And if it does, the trend could experience exponential growth in a generation or two. You have but to go back and look at history to see this -- human evolution, even the growth of Christianity. Slow going for a period of time until it reaches critical mass, and then, boom, it takes off. I tell two friends. They tell two friends. And so on. And so on. And before you know it, everyone is washing their hair with the same shampoo.
Anonymous said…
Very true George.

If you asked how many are religious, but not spiritual.

Or spiritual, but not social (religious I guess) about it, you will get even higher response.

You can look at it as an opportunity to grow. I went into and out of that pool again. As George said, Bob's flavor of christian faith and its message works for the likes of my family. In any case, let’s be brave and sure of ourselves. David Mc

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