Who is America today? Take a look at census info.The diversity among those living in the United States extends beyond race and ethnicity. The latest national census figures on the 281 million citizens can help Southern Baptists understand the population we are called to reach for Christ.
Illustrations by Mark Herron
Source: Profiles of General Demographic Characteristics, U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000, May 2001.
Train up a childA new study reveals that a practice of attending church during childhood has a positive impact on an adults church-based and personal spiritual activities. Seven out of 10 American adults (71percent) report that they regularly attended a Christian church for some period of time during childhood. Of those who attended church as children, 61 percent still attend church regularly today. By way of contrast, 78 percent of those who were not church-goers as children do not attend church today.
Childhood church attendance apparently has an impact on other types of religious practices. How do the personal practices of adults who attended church as children compare to the habits of those who avoided church as kids? Childhood church-goers were twice as likely to read the Bible during a typical week, twice as likely to attend a weekly church service and nearly 50 percent more likely to pray to the Lord during a normal week.
Source: Barna Research Online, November 5, 2001
Where do we come from?The diversity of the U.S. population is impacted in part by the number of individuals born outside of the country. Today, those who are foreign-born comprise 11.2 percent of the total U.S. population. What countries are the top sources of immigrants to America?
296,000
Source: U.S. News & World Report, August 6, 2001
Bible reading causes sunny outlook on life
Tyndale House Publishers recently commissioned a research study on Bible-reading habits and ones outlook. Regular Bible reading apparently has a positive impact on a persons satisfaction with life. For example, 81 percent of people who reported reading the Bible once a week said they were extremely satisfied with life in general, and 94 percent of weekly Bible readers believe life has a clear purpose and meaning.
Source: Tyndale House Publishers and The Barna Research Group, October 2001
Perspectives on religion and lifeThe Gallup Organization has conducted polls on a regular basis over the past 36 years to analyze the importance of religion in the lives of Americans. The statistics over the years havent varied greatly, but the overall wasnt very positiveuntil September 11, 2001, when interest in God spiked, a trend which some analysts say has settled back down to previous levels.
The graph below shows response to the question: How important is religion in your own lifevery important, fairly important, not very important?
Church and synagogue attendance has also been on a gradual slide over the past 46 years. Although worship attendance was positively affected in the days immediately following the attack on America, it looks like things returned to normal pretty quickly.
Source: The Gallup Organization, cited November 29, 2001, at www.gallup.com
Americas changing faceThe last decade saw the greatest increase in population in the U.S. (32.7 million) compared to any other decade in the countrys history. The South and the West experienced the fastest increases, while the slowest growth was in the Northeast. Population increases in given areas may arise from either domestic or international migration.
A study of Census 2000 shows that the American population is increasingly diverseracially and ethnically. Forty percent of all children under the age of 18 are non-Anglo.
Source: EXPLORER Lite, November 5, 2001; U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000; Census 2000: Race and Ethnic Overview, North American Mission Board, June 2001.
Teen church attendance bucks trendsWhile adult weekly church attendance has been gradually falling over the years, teen church attendance shows a sharp trend upward. A poll conducted in early 2001 recorded the highest figure of weekly churchgoing among teens (53 percent) in the 24 years during which these annual audits were conducted. The lowest figure to date was 42 percent in the 1997 audit.
Source: Religion Update, The Gallup Organization, June 26, 2001