Those among the Nothing in Particular group are unlikely to pursue the church to reclaim some kind of religious memory – there is normally little history to recall.
The “Rise of the Nones” captured widespread attention by Christian leaders in recent years. While it was once difficult to quantify the “nominal” Christian dynamic of religious preference in North America, the radical proportion increase of those claiming no religion put these realities front and center in the minds of evangelicals.
Those tasked with leading churches, denominations, and networks were forced to grapple with the reality of how this wide-sweeping abandonment of religion could have flowered on their watch. While it is not the intention of this article to discuss the numerous ecclesiological factors that have converged to contribute to the climate for “Nones” to flourish, their dramatic increase is nonetheless a commentary on the condition of the church. One thing is clear—the church’s mission field isn’t what it once was.
And perhaps, that is not altogether bad.
At our last gathering of the Send Institute Missiologist Council, we sought to discern the sociological dynamics propelling the category of “Nones.” Who are they? Where did they come from? What’s the church to do?
We wrestled with extensive data on the uprising of the Nones, as well as the declining statistics of most other faith traditions in North America. Safe to say—the findings painted a bleak picture of our present reality and our apparent future.
But unique to this report was a deeper dive into the subclassifications of the Nones. We dug into three distinct groups which, when combined, make up the whole of this fast-growing group: 1) Atheists, 2) Agnostics, 3) Nothing in Particular.
The first two groups - Atheists and Agnostics - express strong convictions in their positions ...
from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/39r9vAz
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