{"id":680,"date":"2009-02-18T03:01:49","date_gmt":"2009-02-18T03:01:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/2009\/02\/denominations-toothpaste-and-toilet-paper-just-the-facts-maam.html"},"modified":"2009-02-18T03:01:49","modified_gmt":"2009-02-18T03:01:49","slug":"denominations-toothpaste-and-toilet-paper-just-the-facts-maam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/02\/denominations-toothpaste-and-toilet-paper-just-the-facts-maam.html","title":{"rendered":"Denominations, Toothpaste, and Toilet Paper: Just the Facts, Ma\u00e2??am"},"content":{"rendered":"

Part 1 of series: Denominations, Toothpaste, and Toilet Paper
\n<\/em>Permalink for this post<\/a> \/ Permalink for this series<\/a>
\nA recent USA Today<\/em> headline caught my eye: \u00e2??U.S. Protestants more loyal to toothpaste brand than church?\u00e2?\u009d<\/a> Ouch! This isn\u00e2??t something that a clergyman from a Protestant denomination wants to read in the morning paper. But, like it or not, I did read the USA Today<\/em> story. And, like it or not, I did discover that American Protestants are more loyal to their toothpaste brand than to their denomination. Also to their toilet paper. Double ouch!
\nIf you\u00e2??ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that I weigh in occasionally on the nature and condition of Christian denominations. For example:<\/p>\n

What\u00e2??s Good About Denominations?<\/em><\/a>
\nWhy Not Just Leave the PC(USA)?<\/em><\/a>
\nThe End of the PC(USA) Revisited<\/em><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, given my interest in denominational tidings, I thought chip in my two cents on the issue of denominations and toothpaste.
\nFirst, the facts. The USA Today<\/em> story was based on a study done by Ellison Research<\/a> of Phoenix, Arizona. From their website, it appears that Ellison Research is primarily a marketing research firm for business clients, with several non-profit clients as well. Ellison Research specializes in studies for Christian organizations<\/a>, and claims familiarity with the Christian community.
\nThe research on Christian denominations and toothpaste<\/a> was published on January 12, 2009. It was based on a survey of 1007 American adults, including 471 regular churchgoers. A summary of findings can be found in a press release (PDF format<\/a>).
\nOverall, Ellison Research found that 30% American churchgoers would consider only one denomination. This figure includes Roman Catholics, who are much more loyal than Protestants. 60% of Catholics would consider attending only a Catholic church. Meanwhile, only 16% of Protestants exhibit this kind of denominational loyalty, though 67% of Protestants have some sort of denominational preference.
\nWhat is perhaps even more surprising to me is that Protestants who attend non-denominational churches are much more committed to being non-denominational than Protestants who are allied with a denomination. Here\u00e2??s what Ellison Research found:<\/p>\n

People who worship at a non-denominational congregation were asked the same question about their loyalty to attending a non-denominational church.\u00c2\u00a0 People who attend a non- denominational church are actually more loyal to remaining non-denominational than churchgoers in Protestant denominations are to staying within their own denomination.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In fact, 29% of non-denominational churchgoers would only consider a non-denominational church.
\nEllison Research then asked churchgoers about their loyalty to other \u00e2??brands\u00e2?\u009d beside churches. As it turns out, Protestants are more loyal to their denomination than to their favored brands of fast food restaurants (3%), bottled water (7%), computers (9%), and soft drinks (14%). Yet denominational loyalty ranks below Protestant loyalty to brands of toothpaste (22%) and toilet paper (19%). (Photo: Yes, you can even get toilet paper that comes in a toothpaste-type tube. I wonder if that raises the level of brand loyalty.)
\nSo, there you have, in the iconic words of Joe Friday, \u00e2??just the facts, ma\u00e2??am.\u00e2?\u009d Denominational loyalty is lower than toothpaste and toilet paper loyalty. So what does this mean? What should we think of this? Is it bad? Good? Neutral? Tomorrow I\u00e2??ll offer some thoughts on the implications of \u00e2??just the facts.\u00e2?\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part 1 of series: Denominations, Toothpaste, and Toilet Paper Permalink for this post \/ Permalink for this series A recent USA Today headline caught my eye: \u00e2??U.S. Protestants more loyal to toothpaste brand than church?\u00e2?\u009d Ouch! This isn\u00e2??t something that a clergyman from a Protestant denomination wants to read in the morning paper. But, like…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-denominations-toothpaste"],"yoast_head":"\nDenominations, Toothpaste, and Toilet Paper: Just the Facts, Ma\u00e2??am - Mark D. Roberts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/02\/denominations-toothpaste-and-toilet-paper-just-the-facts-maam.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Denominations, Toothpaste, and Toilet Paper: Just the Facts, Ma\u00e2??am - Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Part 1 of series: Denominations, Toothpaste, and Toilet Paper Permalink for this post \/ Permalink for this series A recent USA Today headline caught my eye: \u00e2??U.S. Protestants more loyal to toothpaste brand than church?\u00e2?\u009d Ouch! This isn\u00e2??t something that a clergyman from a Protestant denomination wants to read in the morning paper. But, like…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/02\/denominations-toothpaste-and-toilet-paper-just-the-facts-maam.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-02-18T03:01:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Denominations, Toothpaste, and Toilet Paper: Just the Facts, Ma\u00e2??am - Mark D. Roberts","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/02\/denominations-toothpaste-and-toilet-paper-just-the-facts-maam.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Denominations, Toothpaste, and Toilet Paper: Just the Facts, Ma\u00e2??am - Mark D. Roberts","og_description":"Part 1 of series: Denominations, Toothpaste, and Toilet Paper Permalink for this post \/ Permalink for this series A recent USA Today headline caught my eye: \u00e2??U.S. Protestants more loyal to toothpaste brand than church?\u00e2?\u009d Ouch! This isn\u00e2??t something that a clergyman from a Protestant denomination wants to read in the morning paper. But, like…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/02\/denominations-toothpaste-and-toilet-paper-just-the-facts-maam.html","og_site_name":"Mark D. Roberts","article_published_time":"2009-02-18T03:01:49+00:00","author":"Mark D. Roberts","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/02\/denominations-toothpaste-and-toilet-paper-just-the-facts-maam.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/02\/denominations-toothpaste-and-toilet-paper-just-the-facts-maam.html","name":"Denominations, Toothpaste, and Toilet Paper: Just the Facts, Ma\u00e2??am - Mark D. Roberts","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-02-18T03:01:49+00:00","dateModified":"2009-02-18T03:01:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/1ff094a57b7e41f534434b1723df3d73"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/02\/denominations-toothpaste-and-toilet-paper-just-the-facts-maam.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/02\/denominations-toothpaste-and-toilet-paper-just-the-facts-maam.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/02\/denominations-toothpaste-and-toilet-paper-just-the-facts-maam.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Denominations, Toothpaste, and Toilet Paper: Just the Facts, Ma\u00e2??am"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/","name":"Mark D. Roberts","description":"Mark D. Roberts: Thoughtfully Christian Reflections on Jesus, the Church, and the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/1ff094a57b7e41f534434b1723df3d73","name":"Mark D. Roberts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","caption":"Mark D. Roberts"},"description":"The Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a pastor, author, retreat leader, speaker, and blogger. Since October 2007 he has been the Senior Director and Scholar-in-Residence for Laity Lodge, a multifaceted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas. Before coming to Laity Lodge, he was for sixteen years the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California (a city in Orange County about forty miles south of Los Angeles). Before his time at Irvine Pres, Mark served on the staff of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood as Associate Pastor of Education. (Thanks to Janel Pahl for taking the photo to the right.) Mark studied at Harvard University, receiving a B.A. in Philosophy, an M.A. in the Study of Religion, and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins. He has taught classes in New Testament for Fuller Theological Seminary and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Mark has written several books, including No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer (WaterBrook, 2005), Dare to Be True (WaterBrook, 2003), Jesus Revealed (WaterBrook, 2002), After \"I Believe\" (Baker, 2002), and Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Word, 1993). His most recent book is Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Crossway, 2007). He is currently working on a commentary on Ephesians that will be published by Zondervan in 2014. Mark writes a devotional for The High Calling of Our Daily Work, a website associated with Laity Lodge. His \"Daily Reflections\" can be viewed online or sent as a daily email. If you wish to receive this email, just visit TheHighCalling.org and sign up. Mark serves on the editorial board of Worship Leader magazine, where he publishes articles and reviews, including his regular column \"Lyrical Poetry.\" Additionally, he has published dozens of articles in leading magazines and journals. He often speaks for churches and other Christian groups, and has been interviewed on over seventy-five radio programs nationwide. Mark is married to Linda, who is a Marriage and Family Therapist, a Spiritual Director, and a retreat speaker. They have two children, Nathan and Kara.For Publicity Photos and Bio Statements for Mark, please check here. Mark's Dossier Professional History: Senior Director and Scholar-in Residence, Laity Lodge, October 2007 to present. Senior Pastor Irvine Presbyterian Church, June 1991 to September 2007 Adjunct Assistant Professor Fuller Theological Seminary, 1994 to 2007. Courses: New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Adjunct Instructor San Francisco Theological Seminary, 1995 to 2001. Courses: New Testament Greek and Exegesis Associate Pastor of Education First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1987-1991 Teaching Fellow Harvard University, 1980-1983 Education: Ph.D. in the Study of Religion. Harvard University, 1992. Area: New Testament and Christian Origins M.A. in the Study of Religion Harvard University, 1984. A.B. magna cum laude in Philosophy Harvard University, 1979. Phi Beta Kappa; Danforth Fellowship Books: Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Crossway, 2007 No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer. WaterBrook, 2005 Dare to Be True: Living in the Freedom of Complete Honesty. WaterBrook, 2003. Jesus Revealed: Know Him Better to Love Him Better. WaterBrook, 2002. After \"I Believe\": Experiencing Authentic Christian Living. Baker, 2002. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther in the Communicator's Commentary Series. Word, 1993. Contacting Mark: You can reach Mark at: E-mail: mark@markdroberts.com mroberts@laitylodge.org Phone: Laity Lodge: (830) 792-1216 Address: Laity Lodge 719 Earl Garrett Kerrville, TX 78028","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/author\/mroberts"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}