Understanding Our Mission Field
Researchers Ryan P. Burge (associate professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University) and Tony Jones (theologian and outdoorsman) revealed some key takeaways about the American Religious Landscape and The Nones Project. Here are some things we can learn about our mission field.
America is religiously complex: While most Americans still identify as Protestant, Roman Catholic, or Orthodox, immigration has diversified the religious mix. Non-Christian faiths such as Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism have grown from 4.7% to 7.1% of the U.S. population as of 2024. Within the three major Christian traditions, there is great variation in attendance, doctrinal clarity, rates of decline, and spiritual migration.
Nondenominationalism is rising: What once began as an ecumenical compulsion to reduce fragmentation is now a defining pattern: nondenominational Protestantism is the largest evangelical tradition in America, and much of evangelical growth is toward being non-denominational. This trend has especially impacted older denominations like the Southern Baptist Convention.
Evangelicals are getting older: Though broader Christian decline has briefly plateaued, demographic momentum works against evangelicalism. Evangelicals have long skewed older than the general population, but now that disparity is widening. Without stronger engagement with younger generations, the current “pause” is unlikely to last.
Evangelicals remain serious about faith and practice: The 2023–24 Pew Religious Landscape Study shows that younger Americans leave Christianity at higher rates than older generations. Yet among those younger evangelicals who remain churched, engagement is strong: devotion, practice, and commitment remain high. Attendance is rising (or rebounding) among Gen Z, younger millennials, older Gen Xers, and younger boomers. Evangelicals also maintain a higher regard for the Bible relative to many other groups.
The “Nones” are plateauing—yet far more diverse than often assumed: The religiously unaffiliated—atheists, agnostics, and “nothing in particular”—once grew at the fastest pace, but recent data suggest their growth is leveling off. Burge notes: “for every six Christians who left, one joined; for the Nones, six joiners for every leaver.” But crucially: the Nones are not monolithic.
Through a machine-learning cluster analysis of a sample of 15,296 Americans (12,014 identifying as nonreligious), Burge and Jones identify four distinct “faces” of the Nones:
NiNos (Nones in Name Only) – 21% – Though unaffiliated, many retain religious behaviors: half pray daily, one-third say they believe in God without doubt, one-third attend worship at least annually. They blur the line between affiliation and private faith.
SBNRs (Spiritual But Not Religious) – 36% – The largest group: they reject organized religion but adopt spiritual practices (meditation, nature, “higher power”). 93% rarely/never attend services, nearly 90% rarely pray, and only 5% believe in God with certainty.
The Dones – 33% – Fully disengaged from both religion and spirituality. 99% say they never pray, 2% ever attend worship, and 77% affirm that human existence ends at death (i.e., no afterlife).
Zealous Atheists – 11% – Actively anti-religion: many attempt to persuade others to abandon faith (75% in last year). However, paradoxically, a small minority report occasional prayer or worship attendance (~17%).
Pastor Jeff
Foundational Faith Statement #8. How did God create us?
God created people male and female, after His own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness to rule over His creatures, reflect God, and replenish the earth. (Gen. 1:26–28; Col. 3:10; Psa. 8:5–8).