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Religious revival on its way, Gallup says
By Matthew Greco
2002-048
2/28/2002
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[Episcopal News Service]
The good news is that Americans are feeling more religious and spiritual. The bad news is they’re not sure who gave the Sermon on the Mount.
This situation, and the coming religious revival that will arise out of it, presents 'remarkable challenges and opportunities' for faith communities, said eminent pollster George Gallup, Jr., speaking recently at the annual symposium of the Henri Nouwen Society at a New York City church.
The revival will be led by three groups: African-Americans, those aged 50-64 and millennials, said Gallup, an Episcopalian, who offered his personal thoughts and reflections based on his firm’s ongoing survey work on religious and spiritual life in America.
Interest in religion and spirituality in America has not diminished--in fact, just the opposite, Gallup said. In the last decade, the number of Americans who believe in heaven and hell is up from 6 in 10 to 8 in 10.
Indeed, this concern about going from the seen to the unseen world presents the church with an incredible challenge, said Gallup, speaking to an interdenominational audience at Manhattan’s St. Ignatius Church. 'It is a moment to be seized by the faith community.'
Part of the challenge is that people say they believe in God, but they’re not sure what they believe. 'Americans are hard pressed to say why they’re Christians. They don’t know what they believe or why,' he observed.
Americans have a high level of credulity and believe in everything from the devil to haunted houses, extraterrestrials and witches. Many hold traditional and non-traditional beliefs simultaneously as they create 'a la carte' homemade religions, Gallup said.
Some 54% of Americans say they’re religious, while 30% say they’re spiritual and not religious. These percentages are about the same for teenagers.
But what’s worrisome in Episcopal congregations is the neglect of youth programs. 'We’re very remiss at engaging youth,' he said. As with other mainline traditions, the Episcopal Church has been losing membership for the last 30 years, a trend Gallup blamed on the lack of youth programs—and the fact that Episcopalians 'don’t believe' in evangelism.
Gallup noted that some people think that American religion is 3000 miles wide and three inches deep. 'There’s much to that. Religion is not primary, not at the center. Americans are stuck in between disbelief and the security of knowing God.'
All of this is not true of African-Americans, who are probably the most religious people of any group in the world. 'You’d be hard pressed to find even one African American who doesn’t believe in a personal God,' he said. It is the power of that bedrock faith that will lead the coming spiritual renewal, he said.
While there is a concern over the lack of depth in American religious belief, contrary to expectations, church attendance stays high among those with higher education, an anomaly of American society not true in other countries.
Reflecting on the post-September 11 religious climate, Gallup noted the well-documented initial rush to churches and the tremendous increase in Bible sales. However, three weeks later, church attendance was back down to normal as well as what people said was the importance of religion in their lives. Curiously, people continued to say that the impact on society of religion is up enormously, a perception not matched by their own reality. Still, Gallup said, 'My guess is in the long run these experiences will intensify the spiritual search going on now.'
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