march 28, 2006
Barna Survey Reveals Significant Growth In Born Again Population
A recent survey by The Barna Group found that more than four out of five Senior Pastors of Protestant churches consider their church to be “evangelical.” While that includes a large share of mainline Protestant churches, the shift in self-perception by churches may help to explain a new revelation from Barna’s most recent national survey -- the 'born again' population is growing significantly.
In that study, in which 1003 adults were randomly interviewed from the 48 continental states, the proportion of adults who can be classified as “born again Christians” based upon their beliefs (not based on their adoption of that phrase to describe themselves) was the highest ever measured in the quarter century that Barna has been tracking that measure.
Close to Half Are Born Again
The new research found that 45% of all adults meet the criteria that The Barna Group uses to classify people as “born again.” That number is up from 31% in 1983. The percentage hovered in the 36% to 43% range from 1992 through 2005. The current figure represents the largest single-year increase since 1991-1992.
The increase is largely attributable to a 16-point rise among Baby Boomers since the beginning of the 1990s. With 53% of Boomers currently meeting the born again criteria used by The Barna Group, that generation has now surpassed the percentage of born again adults within the preceding pair of generations, among whom 48% fit the standard. Slightly more than one-third of the younger generations – the Baby Busters and Mosaics – fit the criteria.
Other demographic comparisons indicate that women are 16% more likely than men to be born again. African-Americans are the ethnic group most likely to be born again (59%), while Hispanics were barely half as likely (32%). Residents of the South remain the most committed to Christ (57% were born again), while those in the West (33%) and Northeast (37%) were least committed.
Five Faith Segments
The Barna Group has tracked five distinct faith segments over the years, and the new downloadable report on the faith factors of the U.S. – The State of the Church: 2006 – shows the nature of the change in those categories.
Evangelicals, who are born again but also possess each of seven core beliefs that mirror those taught in the Bible, represent 9% of the adult public.
Non-evangelical born again adults – individuals who have made a personal commitment to Christ that remains important in their life and who believe they will go to Heaven after they die because they have confessed their sins and accepted Jesus Christ as their savior – constitutes 36% of the adult base. They do not meet the evangelical criteria by virtue of their beliefs related to the seven core biblical perspectives tested in Barna’s surveys.
Notional Christians – people who describe themselves as Christian but do not meet the born again criteria – have declined from 46% in 1991 to 36% today.
Adults who are aligned with faiths other than Christianity, and those who consider themselves to be atheist or agnostic, each comprise less than 10% of the population.
For more information about George Barna’s new report on religious beliefs and behavior, The State of the Church: 2006 click here.
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