Ed Stetzer at #d62013

Bad news motivates people to act.
The stats make good ad copy, but simply are not true.
Stats for Young Americans: 32% are religious; 32% are spiritual, 3 in 10 are Nones

Study from USC (followed 358 Californian families 1970-2005) to be released soon:
  • Jews, Evangelicals, Mormons, and Nones are best at passing on their religion to their children.
  • 74% of married couples who were both Evangelicals also had kids who were Evangelicals
  • 57% of Evangelicals in interfaith marriage had kids who were Evangelicals
  • USC Researchers found that a close relationship with a parent, especially a dad, was biggest predictor of passing on faith. 
  • Nones-14% in 1970 and 57% in 2005 had parents who had been a None. Secularism is growing.
From the book from Lost and Found
  • Beliefs, view of church, spirituality, view of outreach of Age 20-29 compared with those 30 are older
    • Younger age group were more favorable in all these areas.
Lifeway research of Church dropouts
When combined, the following characteristics are most predictive of continuing to attend church:
  • Wanted church to guide my decisions
  • Parents married and both attended church
  • Pastor's sermons were relevant to my life
  • At least 1 adult from church made a significant investment in me personally and spiritually between the ages of 15-18
Every parent wants to sound like a good parent. But the "halo effect" doesn't hide everything.

Isn't it awesome when Bible and statistics agree?

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