{"id":4636,"date":"2024-11-17T03:13:15","date_gmt":"2024-11-17T08:13:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/latestnews\/?p=4636"},"modified":"2024-11-15T14:13:49","modified_gmt":"2024-11-15T19:13:49","slug":"can-churches-reach-nones-nominals-and-casuals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/latestnews\/2024\/11\/17\/can-churches-reach-nones-nominals-and-casuals\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Churches Reach Nones, Nominals and Casuals?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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One-fourth of all Americans \u2013 the Nones \u2014 are unaffiliated with any religion. | Image created in Dalle for Beliefnet.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Opportunities Exist, Says American Bible Society<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Can American churches reach Nones, Nominals and Casuals\u2014 that is, people who have limited to no interaction with God and church? The American Bible Society, which conducts ongoing research on Americans\u2019 engagement with Christ and the Bible, believes the church can reach many of them.<\/p>\n

The organization\u2019s belief is supported by newly released research about the attitudes of so-called Nones, Nominals and Casuals, which you may download\u00a0here.<\/a><\/p>\n

The American Bible Society, which publishes annual State of the Bible <\/em>reports, has been dedicated to sharing the Bible with the world for more than 200 years.<\/p>\n

Newest Research: The Nones<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The society\u2019s latest research \u2014 which has been added as chapter 7 to the organization\u2019s 2024 State of the Bible<\/em> report \u2013 concludes the following about the Nones, according to John Farquhar Plake, PhD, its chief innovative officer and State of the Bible <\/em>editor-in-chief:<\/p>\n

One-fourth of all Americans \u2013 the Nones \u2014 are unaffiliated with any religion. That is, when they were asked whether they are Catholic, Protestant, Jewish or Muslim, they answered \u201cnone of the above.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 25 percent that identifies as Nones in 2024 compares with 5 percent in 1972. A major shift in data occurred in the 1990s but has stabilized in recent years, the report said.<\/p>\n

Part of the shift is real. But a small part may be attributed to non-religious people claiming to have a religious connection they did not have in 1972. At the time, religion and respectability were strongly linked, leading some people to claim a connection that didn\u2019t exist. The strong link has faded, meaning Nones are more willing to be truthful in their responses.<\/p>\n

Identifying the Nones<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Who are the Nones? Some 43 percent of them are currently unmarried, compared to 51 percent of all Americans. And they are more likely to have never married (42 percent), as compared to the total population (32 percent). It\u2019s also noteworthy that the decline in marriage parallels the increase in Nones.<\/p>\n

Going beyond the Christian faith, more men are religiously unaffiliated than the total population, with 54 percent of men identifying as Nones.<\/p>\n

And \u201cyounger Americans are more likely to be Nones than older Americans,\u201d as 6 percent of Baby Boomers, 33 percent of Gen Z and 37 percent of Millennials identify as unaffiliated, the report noted.<\/p>\n

Cities with at least 30,000 residents have much greater concentrations of Nones than suburbs and rural areas (32 percent of medium-to-large cities versus 23 percent and 21 percent of the latter groups, respectively.)<\/p>\n

\u201cCities are often culturally diverse, with a broad array of religious services available. But nearly a third of city-dwellers claim no religious affiliation,\u201d said chapter 7 of the State of the Bible <\/em>2024 report.<\/p>\n

Geographic location also matters, with only 20 percent of southerners identifying as Nones as compared to 34 percent of westerners.<\/p>\n

Nones are slightly more likely (42 percent) to have at least a bachelor\u2019s degree than the general population (39 percent). And 35 percent live in households with income of more than $100,000 a year, which is more than all Christian denominations other than Catholics.<\/p>\n

On the flip side, the report found that nearly half of evangelicals, or 49 percent, are practicing Christians. However, only 19 percent of mainline Protestants practice their faith, and even fewer Catholics (16 percent) do so. And more than half of mainline Protestants and Catholics fall into the Nominals category because they are affiliated with the church but rarely attend.<\/p>\n

Learn more about chapter seven here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Other Key Results<\/h3>\n

Other findings in the report include these:<\/p>\n