Posted on 08/22/2011 9:34:27 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Who is filling the pews in American churches? It is increasingly likely that they won’t be working class white people, according to new research.
While religious service attendance has decreased for all white Americans since the early 1970s, the rate of decline has been more than twice as high for less educated, lower and lower-middle class whites compared to more educated and presumably more affluent whites, according to a study presented Saturday at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in Las Vegas.
“My assumption going into this research was that middle America was more religious and conservative in general than more educated America,” study author Brad Wilcox told msnbc.com. “But what is surprising about this is that when it comes to religion as well as marriage, we find that the college educated are more conventional in their lifestyle than middle Americans.”
In the last four decades, monthly (or more) participation in religious services dropped from 50 percent of moderately educated (high school and perhaps some college) whites to 37 percent, according to the study, “No Money, No Honey, No Church: The Deinstitutionalization of Religious Life Among the White Working Class.” Attendance by the least educated (high school dropouts) dropped from 38 percent to 23 percent, by sociologists Wilcox, of the University of Virginia and Andrew Cherlin of Johns Hopkins University found.
Church attendance by higher-income whites with at least a bachelor’s degree barely dipped, from 50 percent to 46 percent.
The figures represented those aged 25-44 and were gathered from two national surveys, the General Social Survey from the National Opinion Research Center, and the National Survey of Family Growth, which is conducted by the U.S. government's National Center for Health Statistics. The new study focused on white Americans because black and Latino religious worship is less divided
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
The more one understands about the true state of America today, the more one understands the need to pray... fervently.
What....? College educated folks don’t work? I’ve been operating under a false assumption all this time! Damn!
Its not that college leads to God by default (or that Christians are smarter) rather, following God's rules smooths the way in life. It may not fix every problem, but it can help avoid some problems.
Not surprising at all. But, still, in my own observations, the higher up on the socio-economic ladder, often, a church group is many times more about social connections than any sort of worship. This is not by any means universal, but there are those who attend one church over another for reasons other than agreeing with that particular church’s stance on any number of topics. There are also the ones that attract people with like opinions.
I’ll bet gun owners (not criminal) are also better educated.
Hollywood and the liberal press have a way of putting out culture lies...
Side note: I despise the term “working class”.
My wife and I put in more hours per week at work than average, yet we make so much money, we aren’t considered to be “working class”.
Its an insulting term, purposely designed by the Left as a prop of class warfare.
Per the message of the article, only in liberal havens is the church considered to be be devoid of the educated and successful.
Can you imagine joining up with an army and then being told you can look at all the manuals, examine all of the armor and the weaponry, study all the historical records and yet you are not allowed to touch anything. That it would be safer for you to ‘not’ get involved or interact at that level. That in modern times there are those who are better trained and better equipped and you should only listen to them and trust them to do battle for you.
Oh, we'll give you a nice uniform and a title, some sort of ranking. If you prove yourself then we will give you promotions and teach you how things work.
The biblical church is an organism, not an organization, and survives despite the trappings of religion. It has existed both as individual and corporate entities.
If believers do not comprise the church, interacting with obedience to Christ through the guidance and discipline of the Holy Spirit, then there is no church, only a very large building or gathering place where like minded people gather to interact on an acceptable social level.
Whether a single person, a small gathering, or thousands, those which not only ‘know of’ Christ, but are in fact, by the Grace of God, constantly surrendering their lives and consider themselves dead to this world, but nontheless are living through Christ by the power of His Holy Spirit, then they shall endure as it pleases God as the body of Christ.
That large religious institutions which have over the years allowed themselves to become conformed to the image of this world and not that of Christ is sad. Because of this they now find themselves running museums with custom displays set up to draw people in and give them a chance to gain a better understanding and appreciation of God. He continues to draw all men unto himself. But people will not find the King of all creation sitting in a museum, the commander of a great army strolling between the aisles of two displays, the revelation of the purest form of Love and Truth in a gift shop.
The simple truth is that God stands outside the door of every heart, knocking and greatly desiring to enter in. The reality of that personal encounter with the Living God is what people turn away from. They would rather embrace religion, a program, an understanding, a teaching, a title, etc.,because standing naked before God is just not a feel good moment and seeking after pure truth and revelation...well... it tain’t always pretty.
My observation in churches of various denominations is that women under 40 who are active all college grads. Where are blue collar or young uneducated stay at home moms?
It seems that there’s a “study” on white Church attendence at least every 6 months. Where are theses leftist sociology departments getting the grant money and why are they churning out so many studies?
Not terribly surprising. Go to a megachurch in a big or mediun sized city and the mega church is largely a social club for the well off.
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