(RNS)—Days after an investigation revealed allegations of sexual assault against Christian musician Michael Tait, the former Newsboys frontman publicly admitted to abusing cocaine and alcohol and touching men “in an unwanted sensual way.”

“I am ashamed of my life choices and actions, and make no excuses for them,” Tait wrote in an Instagram post June 10. “I will simply call it what God calls it—sin. … While I might dispute certain details in the accusations against me, I do not dispute the substance of them.”

Last week, The Roys Report reported three men Tait met in the Christian music industry between 2004 and 2014 accused him of substance abuse and sexual assault. RNS was unable to reach the alleged victims, who were given anonymity in the Roys article.

Known for performing on Christian music hits such as DC Talk’s “Jesus Freak” (1996) and Newsboys’ “God’s Not Dead” (2011), Tait has been a mainstay of the contemporary Christian music world since the 1990s.

He was a founding member of the Grammy Award-winning Christian rock trio DC Talk and later became the lead singer of Christian rock band Newsboys in 2009, before abruptly leaving in January.

Tait admitted in his Instagram post that he was largely “living two distinctly different lives” and said he left Newsboys because he was “tired of leading a double life.”

“I am truly sorry,” Tait wrote. “It is my hope and prayer that all those I have hurt will receive healing, mercy and hope from the Merciful Healer and Hope-Giver.”

He said he is now sober after spending six weeks at a treatment center in Utah.

“I accept the consequences of my sin and am committed to continuing the hard work of repentance and healing-work I will do quietly and privately, away from the stage and spotlight,” he wrote.

After the allegations against Tait, current Newsboys members Jody Davis, Duncan Phillips, Jeff Frankenstein and Adam Agee said in a statement to RNS they were “devastated” by the implications.

“We are horrified, heartbroken and angry at this report and in many ways, we feel as if we and our families have been deceived for the last 15 years,” they wrote in their June 5 statement. “When he left the band in January, Michael confessed to us and our management that he ‘had been living a double-life’ but we never imagined that it could be this bad.”

America’s largest Christian radio network, K-LOVE, has since pulled DC Talk and Newsboys from its music rotation for the time being, according to a statement to The Roys Report.

“As the investigation proceeds, our prayers are with all those involved,” a spokesperson wrote. “In the meantime, our programming team is resting Newsboys and DC Talk music on our stream.”

(RNS)—Walter Brueggemann, one of the most widely respected Bible scholars of the past century, died June 5 at his home in Michigan. He was 92.

The author of more than 100 books of theology and biblical criticism, Brueggemann was professor emeritus of Old Testament studies at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga., until his retirement in 2003.

His specialty was the Hebrew Bible and especially the Hebrew prophets, and his books were aimed primarily at clergy and church leaders. But through sermons, Brueggemann’s concepts have become familiar to many churchgoers.

Though ordained, Brueggemann never served as a pastor of his own church. He was, however, a much sought after and eloquent preacher and lecturer.

“He had an incredible way to discern what was happening in the world and the church and to speak into that with a much-needed word,” said Conrad L. Kanagy, professor emeritus at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania, who wrote a biography of Brueggemann and edited some of his books.

‘Keep alive the ministry of imagination’

Brueggemann’s books were broadly influential, especially in mainline Protestant circles. His 1978 The Prophetic Imagination sold more than a million copies and remains a classic that is still frequently assigned in mainline seminaries.

In the book, he showed how the biblical prophets, called to imagine a different world, disrupted politics and the dominant culture and its assumptions.

Brueggemann himself was critical of American consumerism, militarism and nationalism.

“It is the vocation of the prophet to keep alive the ministry of imagination, to keep on conjuring and proposing future alternatives to the single one the king wants to urge as the only thinkable one,” he wrote.

Brueggemann was text-focused but resisted the dominant modes of biblical interpretation because they put distance between the reader and the text. He sought to help pastors hear God’s voice within the biblical text.

Brueggemann was born in Tilden, Neb., in 1933. His father, a pastor in the German Evangelical Synod of North America, ordained him. He and his brother, Ed, grew up in Blackburn, Mo.

As a teenager, Brueggemann and his brother visited a Black church on the edge of town. It later influenced his commitment to social justice.

His academic journey began at Elmhurst College (now University), in Elmhurst, Ill. He went on to study at Eden Theological Seminary and Union Theological Seminary. He received a Ph.D. in education from St. Louis University, while teaching at Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis. He left Eden for Columbia Theological Seminary, a Presbyterian school, in 1986.

Brueggemann, however, remained an active minister in the United Church of Christ. He was a frequent speaker at its conferences as well as a mentor to countless church leaders.

He is survived by his wife, Tia, and by his sons James and John and their families.

PRINCETON, N.J. (RNS)—An audience sat enraptured in Princeton Theological Seminary’s dining hall as, one by one, adults in their 20s walked up to a platform, took the microphone and shared a story.

“I realized that if God made our bodies this intricate, shouldn’t the care we give others be just as intricate?” Jewel Koshy asked.

“I allowed Jesus to look at me, and I looked at him, and my life was completely transformed,” Betty Freymann said.

“How can we stay inquisitive in a world where excellence is expected and assimilation is often rewarded?” Ray’Chel Wilson asked. “For me, I take my questions to God.”

Despite the setting, the young adults speaking weren’t seminarians. They were entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, health care workers and other professionals.

The summit they attended was part of the Polaris Young Adult Leadership Network, a new initiative from Princeton Theological Seminary that aims to equip young Christian leaders to find their calling beyond parish ministry.

“If you lead in the public sector, if you are an artist or a business leader or an educator, and you’re deeply motivated by your Christian faith, we think theological education has something to offer there as well,” said Shari Oosting, project director of the Polaris Network.

In recent years, many U.S. seminaries have faced existential threats fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic and a changing religious landscape. As organized religion continues to fade in popularity among many Gen Z, some seminaries are downsizing, combining and embracing online and hybrid models.

B.H. Carroll Theological Seminary, now part of East Texas Baptist University, was an early adopter of an online model of theological instruction.

“We exist to serve Christ and his church through the worldwide provision of affordable, high-quality, accessible and accredited theological education,” the seminary’s purpose statement says.

“Wherever there is Internet access, there is a classroom. Whether global or local, we equip students through the teaching of dedicated professors who are academically well-qualified, experienced in the diverse ministries of the church and missions-minded.”

Serving ‘alongside’ the church

Seminaries also are evolving, offering different certificate programs or degrees tailored for nonclergy students. Some seminaries target retired or second-career students. Others refuse to give up on young adults, instead designing programs to help them live out their spirituality beyond seminary walls.

Todd Still, dean of Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary, points to his institution’s mission statement: “To equip God-called men and women for gospel ministry in and alongside Christ’s church by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

“The ‘alongside’ language communicates our school’s concern and commitment to prepare people who will serve with the church and not only in the church,” Still said.

For students “who have the time, space and finances to do a dual degree,” Truett Seminary offers a Master of Divinity degree in conjunction with a Master of Social Work, Master of Business Administration, Master of Education, Master of Music or Juris Doctor degree from Baylor.

At the other end of the spectrum in terms of a commitment of time and money, Truett Seminary offers an online certificate program as an alternative “when Sunday school isn’t quite enough, but a Master of Divinity isn’t the right fit,” the school’s website explains.

Seeking to shape Christian leaders

Freymann, 28, a Dallas-based tech consulting manager and a participant at the Polaris summit, said meeting other Christians doing “the Lord’s work” in the secular world has made her feel less alone.

“I love that we’re pushing to form Christian leaders. Not Catholic, not Presbyterian, not Episcopal leaders, but Christian leaders,” said Freymann, who is Catholic and hosts a Spanish-language podcast for Latino Catholics.

Freymann gathered in the seminary’s library with roughly 30 other young adults. The room was abuzz as participants responded to discussion prompts, wove strands of yarn for an interactive art project and heard a lecture about the church in the modern world.

Throughout the summit, each shared eight-minute personal stories about Christian leadership in groups or at the final storytelling festival.

“Something that really stood out to me is the fact that everyone is a young adult,” said participant Kennedy Maye, a 22-year-old psychology major at the University of Kentucky.

Raised as a nondenominational Christian, she often discusses God with other young adults in her life but said she often finds herself “defending God.” Here, it was different.

Launched in 2023 with a $4 million grant from the Lilly Endowment, the Polaris Young Adult Leadership Network convenes these cohorts while also offering sub-grants to fund their local ministry efforts and provide workshops on topics like mental health, vocational discernment and sustainability.

The aim is to combat isolation among young Christian leaders and counteract the narrative that all young people are losing their faith.

“In a lot of ways, these young people are teaching us how to be a seminary for the next generation,” said Kenda Creasy Dean, the Mary D. Synnott professor of youth, church and culture at Princeton Theological Seminary and one of the architects of Polaris.

Built to train pastors, many seminaries like Princeton are increasingly welcoming students looking to discern their calling rather than intending to work at a congregation. Dean said she has observed pastoral credentials don’t have the draw they used to for students, which is mirrored in trends at the seminary.

Offering a variety of Master of Arts degrees

Enrollment in its Master of Divinity program—a prerequisite for many seeking ordination—has declined in recent years, down to 155 students in the 2024-2025 school year, from 245 students in 2020-2021.

However, Princeton’s master’s programs for leaders interested in theology/sustainability and in justice/public life have grown steadily since being launched in 2023. The seminary also has seen growth in part-time, hybrid and online offerings. And this year, it saw the largest incoming class of degree-pursuing students in the last five years.

According to data from the Association of Theological Schools, an umbrella group of more than 270 schools, Princeton isn’t alone.

Enrollment in Master of Divinity programs continues to decline among ATS member schools, down roughly 14 percent since 2020.

However, that dip has been offset by boosts in two-year, often customizable Master of Arts programs and nondegree enrollment, leading to an overall 1.8 percent increase in enrollment at ATS schools since 2020.

Still noted Master of Divinity degree enrollment at Truett Seminary has declined somewhat, but enrollment in the seminary’s Master of Arts in Christian Ministry and Master of Theological Studies programs is increasing.

“These are shorter degrees,” he explained. “While the MTS is a general theological/biblical degree, the MACM remains decidedly focused on churchly ministry.”

Truett Seminary offers several other Master of Arts degrees designed for students who plan to serve “alongside” the church. Degrees focus on the intersections of theology with health care, sports studies, contextual witness and innovation, ecology and food justice.

Emphasis on affordability and accessibility

Truett Seminary has seen its overall enrollment increase in recent years due in large part to its emphasis on affordability and accessibility, Still said.

“We work intentionally and painstakingly to raise as much scholarship funding as we possibly can in order to drive down the tuition price-point. We are seeking to find the golden mean of students to train and scholarships to offer,” he said.

“Some schools have students but little financial support. Other schools have strong finances but few students to educate. We are striving to have both.”

To make theological education more accessible, in addition to its home campus in Waco, Truett Seminary opened additional instructional sites in Houston and San Antonio.

Its Doctor of Ministry degree program not only meets in those three locations, but also in Amarillo and in Falls Church, Va., at the Baptist World Alliance headquarters.

Some seminaries are facing significant challenges. Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, an influential Evangelical Free Church school near Chicago, announced last month it will be acquired by a Canadian university and move to British Columbia.

Making a transformative impact

Despite financial setbacks, the school has had a transformative impact on the nearby city of Waukegan, Ill., thanks to a young adult-centered program called Mosaic Ministries.

Mosaic Ministries began praying with and building relationships with Waukegan churches in 2010. With the help of the Lilly Endowment, it became a formal collaboration of 12 churches in 2017, with the purpose of developing ministries with young adults.

By listening to what young people asked for—space to ask hard questions and do life together, not just host another barbecue, for example—churches adapted.

“As the years went by, our churches grew healthier, they grew more intergenerational, they grew more missional, and this collaboration of churches shifted from individual churches to a network,” said Daniel Hartman, co-director of Mosaic Ministries at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

In 2022, that network came together to form Refined, a program for young adults from each of the 12 churches. Across 18 months, the young adults received mentoring, attended retreats and became involved in Waukegan-based community projects.

Though Adi Camacho grew up attending a Baptist church in Waukegan, she joined Refined after several years away from the church.

“It was my first time getting to meet brothers and sisters who were not from my congregation that could hear my heart and be there for me and love and support me in such a godly way,” Camacho said. “We were able to break barriers between our churches.”

Camacho hosts a podcast about Mosaic Ministries’ impact and pitches the program at citywide events like cleanup days, toy drives or prayer services. The city routinely looks to Mosaic to meet local needs, and Mosaic’s hub, a revamped former library, is a gathering place designed to welcome young people who might be hesitant to meet at church, said Hartman.

It’s not yet clear how Mosaic Ministries will be impacted by the seminary’s move. However, Mosaic and similar innovative seminary initiatives take a unique approach to empowering young people in their own contexts, without trying to convince them to enroll as students.

Experimenting and innovating

For example, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary has created programming for both Christian and “Christ curious” young adults.

“There are all kinds of places where young adults gather at the edges of Christian conversation,” said Melissa Wiginton, vice president for strategic engagement and partnerships at the Austin seminary.

“We know that there is a longing out there for people to be connected to something that’s sturdy enough to hold them, but not so rigid that it encages them.”

Since 2017, the seminary, also with the help of the Lilly Endowment, has created such spaces via its 787 Initiative, which offers faith and community engagement for young people in Austin.

Mercedes Collins, who runs a recreational club, We Outside ATX, for Austin’s Black community, provides input for 787’s advisory council. She said young people in her network are craving spaces where their voices are heard.

“Community is a spiritual thing, right?” said Collins, who identifies as more spiritual than religious. “We’re not meant to be here alone.”

787 was a precursor to the seminary’s Austin Story Project, which launched in January and will offer an in-person storytelling cohort and spiritual pilgrimages for young adults. The first pilgrimage will focus on nonviolence, where participants will visit sites connected with nuclear weapon production in the Pacific Northwest. A survivor of the bombing of Hiroshima will accompany them.

“Everybody’s in a massive period of experimentation,” said Dean, of Princeton Theological Seminary. “Desperation is a spiritual gift, and so it gives you a chance to experiment with things that, you know, 10 years ago were off the table. That’s happening everywhere, and we are no different in that.”

Still likewise emphasized the importance of continuing to try new approaches.

“The bottom line is this: those who are willing and able to collaborate and innovate in theological education will likely be able to weather the storm longer and to navigate the headwinds better than those who are not,” he said.

With additional reporting by Managing Editor Ken Camp.

(RNS)—At cross-cultural gatherings in Bethlehem, West Bank, groups of children and adults turn to a 67-year-old, colorful comic book with Martin Luther King Jr.’s image on its cover, his tie and shirt collar visible beneath his clerical robe.

As they read from “Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story,” the group leader is prepared to discuss questions about achieving peace through nonviolent behavior.

“What are the teachings we have from Martin Luther King?” asks Zoughbi Zoughbi, a Palestinian Christian who is the international president of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and founder of Wi’am: The Palestinian Conflict Transformation Center.

“How can we benefit from it, and how do we deal with issues like that in the Palestinian area under the Israeli occupation? How to send a message of love, agape with assertiveness, not aggressive?”

Available in six languages

In a phone interview with RNS, Zoughbi said the comic book, published in 1958, remains a staple in his work. It is available in six languages, including Arabic.

Over the decades, it was used in Arabic in the anti-government Arab Spring uprisings, in English in anti-apartheid activism in South Africa and in Spanish in Latin American ecclesial base communities, or small Catholic groups that meet for social justice activities and Bible study.

It continues to be a teaching tool and an influential historical account in the United States as well. The book was distributed in January at New York City’s Riverside Church and has been listed as a curriculum resource for Muslim schools.

It remains a popular item, available online and in print for $2, at the bookstore at Atlanta’s Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. Store director Patricia Sampson called it “one of our best sellers.”

The 16-page book was created by the Fellowship of Reconciliation, a Christian-turned-interfaith anti-war organization. It was written by Alfred Hassler, then FOR-USA’s executive secretary, in collaboration with the comic industry’s Benton Resnik.

A gift of $5,000 from the Ford Foundation’s Fund for the Republic, a nonprofit advocating for free speech and religious liberty, helped support it.

“We are a pacifist organization, and we believe deeply in the transformative power of nonviolence,” said Ariel Gold, executive director of FOR-USA, based in Stony Point, N.Y.

“And where this comic really fits into that is that we know that nonviolence is more than a catchphrase, and it’s really something that comes out of a deep philosophy of love and an intensive strategy for political change.”

‘The Comic Book That Changed the World’

The comic book bears out that philosophy, in part by telling the story of King’s time in Montgomery, Ala. King was chosen to lead the Montgomery Improvement Association as Black riders of the city’s buses strove to no longer have to move to let white people sit down.

Their nonviolent actions, catalyzed by Rosa Parks’ refusing to give up her seat in 1955, eventually led to a Supreme Court decision that segregated public busing was unconstitutional.

The comic book ends with a breakdown of “how the Montgomery method works,” with tips for how to foster nonviolence that include “decide what special thing you are going to work on” and “see your enemy as a human being … a child of God.”

Ahead of publishing, Hassler received “adulation and a few corrections” from King, to whom he sent a draft, said Andrew Aydin, who wrote his master’s thesis on the comic book and titled it “The Comic Book that Changed the World.”

The name of the comic book’s artist, long unknown, was revealed in 2018 to be Sy Barry, known for his artwork in “The Phantom” comic strip, by the blog comicsbeat.com.

In an edition of FOR’s Fellowship magazine, King wrote in a letter about his appreciation for the comic book: “You have done a marvelous job of grasping the underlying truth and philosophy of the movement.”

The book quickly gained traction. The Jan. 1, 1958, edition of Fellowship noted the organization had received advance orders for 75,000 copies from local FOR groups, the National Council of Churches and the NAACP. An ad on its back page noted single copies cost 10 cents, and 5,000 could be ordered for $250.

By 2018, the magazine said some 250,000 copies had been distributed, “especially throughout the Deep South.”

Graphic novels highlight civil rights struggles

The comic book has led to other series in the same genre that also seek to highlight civil rights efforts, using vivid images that synopsize historical accounts of the 1960s.

March, a popular graphic novel trilogy (2013-2016), was created by U.S. Rep. John Lewis, along with Aydin, his then-congressional staffer, and artist Nate Powell, about Lewis’ work in the Civil Rights Movement. A follow-up volume, Run, was published in 2021.

“It was part of learning the way of peace, the way of love, of nonviolence. Reading the Martin Luther King story, that little comic book, set me on the path that I’m on today,” said Lewis, quoted in the online curriculum guide on FOR’s website.

More recently, a new grant-funded webcomic series, “Bad Catholics, Good Trouble,” was inspired by both the King comic book and March, said creator Matthew Cressler.

Described as a “series about antiracism and struggles for justice across American Catholic history,” it chronicles the stories of Sister Angelica Schultz, a white Catholic nun who sought to improve housing access for African American residents in Chicago, and retired judge Arthur McFarland.

As a teenager, McFarland worked to desegregate his Catholic high school in Charleston, S.C., and later encouraged the hiring of Black staff at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

Continued use in diverse educational settings

Cressler said the King comic book’s continued distribution and use in diverse educational settings “make it one of the most significant comics in the history of comics—which is something that might seem wild to say, given how when most people think about comic books, they think of superheroes like Superman or Batman.”

Though different in topic and artistic style, Cressler said, the MLK comic book can be compared to Maus by Art Spiegelman and On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder—more recent graphic novels about a Jewish Holocaust survivor and threats to democracy, respectively—“as a medium through which to teach, to educate and specifically to politically mobilize.”

Anthony Nicotera, director of advancement for FOR-USA and an assistant professor at Seton Hall University, a Catholic school in South Orange, N.J., uses the King comic book in his peace and justice studies classes.

“People are using it in small ways or local ways or maybe even in larger ways,” he said, “and we don’t find out until after it’s happened.”

Gold, a progressive Jew who is the first non-Christian to lead FOR-USA, said future versions are planned beyond the six current languages to further share the message of King, the boycott and nonviolence.

This year, she said, her organization is aiming to translate it into French and Hebrew, for use in joint Israeli-Palestinian studies and trainings on nonviolence, as well as for Jewish religious schools.

“Especially in this political moment, I think we really need sources of hope, and we need reminders of the work and the strategy and the sacrifice that is required to successfully meet such an intense moment as this,” she said.

(RNS)—The board of a leading evangelical seminary voted during its May meeting to affirm its long-standing belief that LBGTQ relationships are unbiblical.

But in a May email to supporters, Fuller Theological Seminary’s president also acknowledged that some “faithful” Christian denominations approve of same-sex relationships, an unusual stance for an evangelical seminary.

The acknowledgment that denominations can disagree on the issue and remain faithful has led to confusion about whether married gay students who belong to affirming denominations might be allowed at the school. Or what will happen to faculty who affirm same-sex marriage.

When asked how the comments about affirming Christians might affect the seminary’s ban on LBGTQ relationships for students, a spokesperson confirmed there was no official change to policy.

“The board has made no changes to Fuller’s Community Standards, which all students commit to adhere to upon enrollment, and which states Fuller’s belief that ‘sexual union must be reserved for marriage, which is the covenant union between one man and one woman,” the school’s media contact wrote in an email to RNS.

The school’s current community standards—which apply to students, faculty and staff—also state “sexual abstinence is required for the unmarried.”

“The seminary believes premarital, extramarital, and homosexual forms of explicit sexual conduct to be inconsistent with the teaching of Scripture,” according to the community standards.

Community Standards have been tested

Those standards have been tested in recent years.

In 2019, a former student sued the seminary for discrimination after she was dismissed for having violated the policy. School officials discovered she was married to another woman during a review of the student’s tax return for the financial aid process. A second expelled student joined that suit, which eventually was dismissed.

In 2024, the seminary fired Ruth Schmidt, a senior director at Fuller and graduate of the seminary, after she refused to commit to supporting the school’s views of sexuality.

Fuller President David Goatley appointed a task force to review the school’s position on sexuality and look at possible changes. A draft policy that became public last year proposed keeping Fuller official beliefs the same but allowing students from traditions that affirm LGBTQ relationships “to live with integrity consistent to the Christian communities to which they belong.”

Last week, Goatley sent out an email with an update from the May board meeting, saying the school had affirmed its current position on sexuality.

“At the same time, we acknowledge that faithful Christians—through prayerful study, spiritual discernment, and lived experience—have come to affirm other covenantal forms of relationship,” Goatley wrote in the email update.

“Some evangelicals will disagree with this acknowledgment; others will resonate deeply,” the Fuller president wrote in an op-ed published at Churchleaders.com last week about the board update.

“Recognizing such differences does not weaken our commitment to historic Christian teaching. Instead, it reflects our effort to engage complex realities with theological integrity and pastoral sensitivity.”

No new policy adopted

Neither the board update email nor Goatley’s op-ed detailed how the school’s policies on sexuality will apply in the future. He did point out the school affirms both women and men as pastors, contrasting that with the views of some evangelical seminaries that teach only men can be pastors.

In the email update, Goatley wrote he would be “working with the Board of Trustees, the administration, and the faculty to develop guidelines to continue living out our commitments.”

The school’s president told RNS the official policy would continue to apply to faculty as well as students.

“The board introduced no new policies,” he said in an emailed statement. “They confirmed the institution’s existing commitments concerning marriage and human sexuality. We anticipate that faculty will continue to serve in alignment with the mission of the seminary.”

The current community standards barring same-sex relationships remain on the school’s website, which also states that students and employees must commit to following “all of the seminary’s published policies and ethical standards.”

Some faculty at Fuller have expressed support for LGBTQ affirmation, including one high-profile Fuller professor.

Christopher Hays, who teaches Old Testament at Fuller, recently wrote The Widening of God’s Mercy, which argues for affirming LGBTQ relationships, with his father, Richard Hays, a prominent New Testament scholar who died earlier this year.

Fuller is one of the largest evangelical seminaries in the country, with 1,620 students overall enrolled this past fall—the equivalent of 714 full-time students—according to data from the Association of Theological Schools.

Of those students, 370 were enrolled in the Master of Divinity degree program, while 507 were in a Doctor of Ministry program, both designed for pastors.

The school was founded in 1947 by radio evangelist Charles Fuller, host of “The Old Fashioned Revival Hour.”

PHILADELPHIA (BP)—From a global vantage point unique to its study of the Bible’s impact on U.S. adults, the American Bible Society said Americans revere Scripture, faith and church more than others in a geographical cluster described as the “Secular West.”

The United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand are included in the secular west cluster.

The American Bible Society said only 37 percent of secular west residents say the Bible is personally relevant. The United States is the outlier, with 51 percent of adults affirming Scripture’s relevance to them personally.

This mirrors a Lifeway Research study released May 13 showing 51 percent of American adults have read at least half of the Bible.

The American Bible Society includes the findings in the second chapter of its 15th annual State of the Bible, relying on data from the 2025 Patmos World Bible Attitudes Survey, with permission, with Gallup as the source research agency.

“These insights, made possible by invaluable contributions and expertise among our partner organizations, give us an unprecedented view of worldwide attitudes toward and engagement with the Bible,” said John Plake, chief innovation officer at the American Bible Society and State of the Bible series editor.

“This study helps us see where God’s word is spreading and his church is growing. We also see vast opportunities to share his word with the world.”

The American Bible Society draws on its membership in United Bible Societies, a fellowship active in more than 240 nations, in releasing the data.

In partnership with the British and Foreign Bible Society, the United Bible Societies and Gallup, the Patmos World Bible Attitudes Survey polled 91,000 people in 85 countries on Bible attitudes and practices.

The initiative draws from John’s letters to the seven churches in Asia Minor as recorded in Revelation, identifying seven geographical clusters and putting the United States in the fifth cluster described as the secular west.

Americans view Bible more favorably

In the secular west, the vast majority of adults do not find the Bible personally relevant, researchers said. Only 40 percent of residents in the cluster said religion is an important part of their daily life, compared to 69 percent of the global population.

But also in the secular west, Americans outpace other nations in key areas of biblical engagement, and judge the Bible more favorably.

While an average of 18 percent of adults in the cluster use the Bible “a few times a week or more,” 28 percent of Americans do so, compared to 18 percent of the Irish, the nearest ranking country in the cluster, and 8 percent of the French, the lowest use found.

While an average of 19 percent in the secular west attend church at least weekly, 28 percent in the United States do so, followed by 26 percent of Irish and 21 percent of Italians, with the lowest weekly attendance, 10 percent, found in France.

More than half of Americans, 53 percent, said religion is an important part of their daily lives, outpacing the average of 40 percent in the cluster who said so. Comparatively, 50 percent of Italians also said so, with Norwegians least often saying so at 17 percent.

When asked whether “It’s difficult to trust the Bible because it clashes with the scientific worldview,” the United States was the only nation with more respondents who said, “It’s not difficult to trust the Bible,” the American Bible Society noted.

“The U.S. is the only nation in this group with more disagreement (41 percent) than agreement (31 percent)—more who say it’s not difficult to trust the Bible,” researchers wrote. “The level of ‘strong’ disagreement in the U.S. (23 percent) more than doubles that of nearly every other nation in the cluster.”

Still, some U.S. responses varied.

When an average of 48 percent of respondents in the cluster disagreed or strongly disagreed that the Bible is a source of harm in the world, 55 percent of Americans said the same, outpaced by 65 percent of Italians.

And while 23 percent of Americans said the Bible is indeed a source of harm in the world—outpacing the secular west average of 22 percent—only 12 percent of Italians said so.

Other clusters in the Patmos Initiative are:

• The “Majority Muslim” cluster 1, West Africa, Chad, Sudan, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
• The “Majority Christian” cluster 2, Russia, Eastern Europe and Portugal, citing a historical connection to Orthodox Christianity.
• The “Majority Muslim” cluster 3, North Africa, Middle East, Turkey and Central Asia.
• The “Majority Christian” cluster 4, Latin America, Caribbean, Philippines.
• The “Religiously Diverse” cluster 6, India, China, Indonesia, Japan.
• The “Majority Christian” cluster 7, Sub-Saharan Africa.

Fieldwork details for all countries can be found in the methodology chapter of The Patmos Survey report, available here.

The American Bible Society will release additional chapters of the State of the Bible monthly through December, focusing on trust, flourishing, identity and church and Bible engagement.

Good Faith podcast host Curtis Chang recently sat down with New York Times columnist David French and Russell Moore, editor in chief of Christianity Today, for a Zoom discussion about the first 100 days of President Trump’s second term.

Chang approached the conversation by having each panelist reflect on how his impressions have changed since Trump won his reelection bid. He played clips showing each panelist’s initial reactions to Trump’s reelection from a prior podcast on November 6.

Moore and French both reported feeling exhausted last November.

With Trump’s reelection, Moore said, he knew there was going to be a lot of drama—“drama that is going to be, you know, in every American’s life, all the time from now on.” And, he said he thinks actually, “a lot of people like that.”

But he felt reassured, because Americans had been intentional about who they elected. No one had been “hoodwinked,” and Moore said that was reassuring to him, because people “know the drama they’re signing up for.”

In November, he saw the challenge as being how to navigate the drama, spiritually, without being completely “driven down by it,” regardless of political persuasion.

Chang noted Moore seemed to be right about people being exhausted by the drama, citing recent polls that show 1 in 4 Trump voters now disapproves of the job Trump is doing.

But Moore said he’s less exhausted now than he was in November, because he’s developed a kind of “carbon monoxide detector” to help navigate the exhaustion.

Moore noted he discovered less time on social media resulted in him feeling “much less anxious and much less angry,” an anger he explained was rooted in “the fact that nobody seems to be angry or concerned about what is quite obviously … a crazy time in the country.”

But limiting how much social media he consumes has helped with those feelings, Moore explained.

On November 6, French noted a similar exhaustion after the election and wondered what that exhaustion “should lead us to do.”

Defend vulnerable people and tell the truth

French noted those like himself, who have the resources to weather the effects of the current political situation in the United States, still have a responsibility to “defend the vulnerable and speak the truth.”

“If we give in to despair,” French noted, “that’s going to lead us to retreat into our own sort of cocoon, our own bubble, right? So, we have to lean out of that and into the defense of people.”

French also said in November that even if one isn’t a lawyer or legislator, individuals can “stand up for the dignity, for the humanity of vulnerable people.”

Chang asked French to explain what he’d “seen done to truth and to the vulnerable” in the first 100 days of this Trump administration.

French said with a history of covering President Trump through the years, he “knew truth and defending the vulnerable would be a salient aspect of responding to these times.”

But he noted, “I had no idea how quickly and how dramatically we would reach a point” of vulnerable people being exploited and where the “truth was being destroyed.”

French emphasized he was “not new here,” and acknowledged from his time around Trump and the Trump movement for the past nine years, he “knew this was a movement that lies as easily as it breathes.”

He said he also knew to expect a major effort “toward mass deportations.”

“I had an intellectual knowledge that you would have dishonesty,” and that vulnerable populations would be attacked, he said.

“But I had no idea how comprehensively you would see an attack on the truth” and on the vulnerable, French said.

He noted another thing he “absolutely did not expect at all was how many powerful institutions would completely, not just abandon the field, but essentially just yield to Trump.”

In Trump’s first term, he’d taken comfort in many pieces of civil society—including resistance from within the Republican party and the administration and opposition from Democrats—who figuratively would “throw their body” in front of some of the worst actions Trump attempted.

But “by and large” this time the president is not surrounded by wise counselors and advisers, but by “enablers,” French said.

So, while the “attack on the vulnerable was so immediate and so dramatic, it is the breakdown of civil society, in response” and the lineup of billionaires at the inauguration and the oligarchy on display there that really surprised French, he noted.

He hasn’t been especially surprised by Trump’s behavior, French said, because “Trump is Trump.”

However, he has been surprised and alarmed by the response to Trump’s demands by some of the most powerful people and institutions in the United States.

French said the spectacle of wealthy, powerful law firms and institutions “tripping all over themselves to give into” Trump’s demands, even unlawful ones, was “staggering to [him].”

“They’re acting as if they hold no cards. They’re acting as if Trump can control them at a whim, and that’s just absolutely not the case. It’s shocking to me,” he observed.

Turning towards Ukraine

Chang’s November comments related to going into “avoidance mode.” He said the election was a “disaster for our country,” but a boon to his “to-do list.”

But after he stopped throwing himself into being busy, he realized what he was feeling about the election was anger, wanting to blame someone, sadness and even anguish—especially for immigrants, the vulnerable and the people of Ukraine.

So, he turned the conversation to what has happened in the Russian war against Ukraine in the first 100 days of President Trump’s second administration. He asked French to weigh in on Ukraine.

French said, again, he was aware of Trump’s history of disliking Ukraine before he returned to office, and was “extremely pessimistic” about how Trump would treat Ukraine in this term.

He noted for some extreme factions of MAGA, Vladimir Putin is a “hero” whom they admire as an example of strong Christian nationalism in opposition to the “woke, weak West.”

French also pointed out some conspiracy-minded MAGA diehards blame Ukraine for impeachment investigations into Trump and Russia after 2016 and consider Ukraine a “villain.”

But when “negotiations” got underway, he didn’t expect Trump to “lean entirely on Ukraine” with “Putin’s demands, in essence,” and on American allies to support Ukraine less, French noted.

And at first, he didn’t see the “trade war” with the United States’ closest allies for what it actually is. It’s not just isolationism, French asserted.

Trump sees things in terms of influence spheres, and Trump sees Ukraine as within Putin’s “sphere of influence,” French explained. The responsibility of the smaller country, in Trump’s estimation, is to “yield to the bigger country.”

“That’s what he’s demanding of Canada, Denmark and Mexico,” he said.

And he noted, this is Zelensky’s offense to Trump and a “very Putinesque” way of seeing things—which helps make sense of America “essentially switching sides in the conflict.”

In November, French only anticipated a “worst case scenario” of some sort of neutrality that benefitted Russia, “but we’ve seen something beyond that … a switching of teams.”

And it’s such an emergency in the “geopolitics of the moment” and “in the history of the world,” European countries are reacting dramatically to the shift, French said. This “shaking at the core of our alliances” can’t easily be undone.

Chang asked Moore how to listen to the dark observations from French and “maintain your carbon monoxide detector” for managing anxiety.

Moore said when people “feel powerless” about specific aspects of what’s happening—such as concern for Ukrainian churches being bombed by Russia or people being laid off by DOGE cuts—they want to do something, but don’t know what they can do.

Moore said sometimes the answer to managing anxiety is to “embrace the broken heartedness.”

Chang agreed, noting “grief” may be a necessary step to navigating the unclear path forward from here.

The full podcast can be watched here.

(RNS)—The Chicago Board of Education and New York’s David Lynch Foundation have agreed to settle a three-year-long class-action lawsuit that alleged public high school students were forced to practice Hindu rituals through the guise of a meditation program.

The “Quiet Time” initiative of the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace implemented a twice-daily 15-minute meditation session in five Chicago high schools between 2015 and 2019.

The initiative—the late filmmaker’s project to bring Transcendental Meditation to “at-risk populations” around the world, including inner-city students and prison inmates—was part of a study designed to “decrease stress and the effects of trauma” for students living in high-crime neighborhoods.

More than 2,000 students participated in the study, co-run by the University of Chicago’s Urban Labs social and behavioral research initiative on community violence.

The foundation argued TM’s form of mantra meditation—the silent repetition of one word or sound to enter a state of self-hypnosis—was completely nonreligious.

Invocations of Hindu deities

Plaintiffs argued the Sanskrit invocations of Hindu deities and an initiation puja, called a “ceremony of gratitude” by instructors, felt distinctly religious.

“Everybody that I talked to was outraged and angry, particularly the students,” attorney John Mauck, who represented the 200 plaintiffs who filed claims, told RNS.

“They felt manipulated and lied to. TM lies. They say it’s not religious, but it plunges students into a religious ritual.”

More than 700 of the participants, who were under 18 at the time of the program, will be rewarded a portion of $2.6 million. They include students who were part of the control group and did not meditate, according to the settlement negotiation, ruled on by Federal Judge Matthew Kennelly.

Though representatives of the foundation and Chicago Public Schools asserted the program was not mandatory, several students said they were reprimanded or their academic standing threatened if they refused.

Various participants in the lawsuit allegedly were told not to inform their parents of the TM practice, “especially if they were religious,” Mauck said. Some claimed they were told by instructors the Sanskrit prayer in the initiation process “didn’t have any meaning.”

Placing an offering at a shrine

Kaya Hudgins, the Muslim student at the forefront of the class-action lawsuit, told RNS she and her classmates were taken individually to a small room. They were instructed to place an offering of fruit at an altar with brass cups of camphor, incense and rice and a photograph of Brahmananda Saraswati.

Also known as Guru Dev, Brahmananda Saraswati was the master of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the Hindu guru who started the global TM movement in 1955.

Students were asked to repeat the Sanskrit words a representative uttered and, at the end of the ceremony, were given a one-word mantra and told not to repeat it to anyone.

The CEO of the David Lynch Foundation, Bob Roth, testified in the case’s deposition saying instructors never asked the students to participate in the puja ceremony. Roth has also refuted that the mantras have “any deity connection,” despite Maharishi’s statements the mantras “fetch to us the grace of personal gods.”

In another instance, Roth has called the initiation ceremony a “lovely cultural tradition, and not religious in any way,” again contrary to the founder’s views, according to former TM instructor and key witness Aryeh Siegel.

“They (The David Lynch Foundation) consider the puja an inviolable requirement for learning TM, because TM teachers believe the ceremony ties the participant spiritually to the gurus being worshipped,” Siegel, the author of Transcendental Deception, told RNS in an email.

Neither the David Lynch Foundation nor UChicago’s Urban Labs responded to requests for comments. No results from the “Quiet Time” study have been publicly released.

Prior legal troubles for TM

This is not the first time TM has gotten into legal trouble. A New Jersey case from 1979 titled Malnak vs. Yogi found TM in schools to be “unlawful,” after a thorough review of the meanings behind the Sanskrit incantations.

Mauck’s firm has settled two other similar cases, one in which a Christian student was awarded $150,000 in damages after refusing to “kneel before anyone except the Lord God.”

According to Mauck, who used the word “demon” interchangeably with “Hindu deity,” there is “only one God to believers, the monotheists.”

“If you talk to the most knowledgeable Muslims, Jews or Christians, they would agree that all these little gods are not gods at all,” he said.

Mat McDermott, the communications director for the Hindu America Foundation, bristles at the claim Hindu gods are demonic, saying such accusations “show a profound religious bias and lack of understanding about anything related to Hinduism.”

“Calling TM demonic shows an utter lack of understanding about the techniques actually taught in TM,” McDermott said.

TM rests ‘within a Hindu context’

Even so, McDermott and the Hindu America Foundation agree TM sits “within a Hindu context of meditation techniques,” and McDermott said there are other, less religious ways to do meditation in schools.

“(It’s) entirely possible to teach many breath-focused meditation techniques without any religious component to them, and not run afoul of separation of church and state issues,” McDermott said.

“Focusing on the breath alone has powerful benefits for calming and concentration. If that’s all you do, I’d still call it meditating, and that has no inherent religious or spiritual component.”

Retired journalism professor Joseph Weber, who wrote the book Transcendental Meditation in America: How a New Age Movement Remade a Small Town in Iowa, agrees meditation itself should not be demonized.

“The idea of meditation in schools—especially troubled ones—seems like a positive thing,” he told RNS in a written statement. “Anything that helps kids settle their minds seems useful. The problem with TM-oriented work in schools, however, is that it can be propagandistic for the TM organization.”

“One wishes that a secular group untainted by the TM group, would teach the meditation, not the TM folks. It would be like yoga teachers uninvolved with the practice’s history teaching it as a stretching and fitness technique. That would seem fine.”

Squire Parsons Jr., a native of West Virginia and longtime Southern Gospel singer, died May 5. He was 77.

Parsons’ father, who was a choir director and deacon at his church, taught his son how to sing using shaped notes.

Parsons held a bachelor of science degree in music from West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Montgomery, where he was trained on the piano and bassoon, and received an honorary doctorate from the university in 1999.

After graduating from college, he taught at Hannan High School in Mason County, W.Va., and served as music director of various churches.

He began singing Southern Gospel music professionally when he joined the Calvarymen Quartet in 1969 before he graduated from college. He went on to sing with The Kingsmen, where he served as the baritone for the quartet.

His voice became the standard for several songs, including “It Made News In Heaven,” “Hello Mama,” “The Lovely Name Of Jesus,” “I’ve Got A Reservation,” “Master Of The Sea” and “Look For Me At Jesus’ Feet.”

Parsons focused on a solo ministry in 1979. He is known for writing several songs, including “Sweet Beulah Land,” “He Came To Me,” “The Broken Rose,” “The Greatest Of All Miracles,” “I’m Not Giving Up,” “I Sing Because” and “I Call It Home.”

He was ordained as a minister in 1979 at his home church, Trinity Baptist Church in Asheville, N.C.

Parsons also worked with Squire Parsons & Redeemed (1984–1991) and The Squire Parsons Trio (1995–2009). He appeared during a Billy Graham Crusade in Arkansas and performed with the Gaither Homecoming Choir.

“Sweet Beulah Land” was voted song of the year in 1981 by readers of Singing News Magazine, where he was voted favorite baritone (1986–1987), favorite male singer (1988) and favorite songwriter (1986, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995).

He received a Dove Award nomination in 1999 for contributing to a Dottie Rambo tribute album.

Parsons was inducted in the Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2008. He had also been inducted in the Gospel Music Association’s Hall of Fame in 2000 as a former member of The Kingsmen.

Parsons retired from traveling in 2019 and only made limited appearances after that.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

An international survey reveals a strong correlation between regular attendance at religious services and higher levels of individual flourishing.

The link between well-being and regular attendance at religious services was among the key insights gleaned from the first wave of data released April 30 from the Global Flourishing Study.

The study is a collaborative research project carried out by Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion, the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University, Gallup and the Center for Open Science.

Launch of Baylor Institute for Global Flourishing

In conjunction with the release of the first round of data, Baylor University announced the launch of its Institute for Global Flourishing, an initiative university officials said aligns with the university’s Pro Mundo (for the world) vision and its Baylor in Deeds strategic plan.

“I am grateful that Baylor’s mission aligns so perfectly with the bold vision to launch the Institute for Global Human Flourishing,” said Byron Johnson, inaugural director of the Institute for Global Human Flourishing, co-principal investigator of the Global Flourishing Study and current director of the Institute for Studies of Religion.

“This extraordinary commitment positions Baylor to be a leader not only in advancing scientific knowledge via the Global Flourishing Study and related research, but it will also provide the infrastructure to offer much needed resources and tools to support the application of this knowledge to power a global flourishing movement.”

Creating the Institute for Global Flourishing advances Baylor’s “vision of human flourishing that is evidence-based, practical, faith-animated and inspirational,” said Provost Nancy Brickhouse.

“The Institute for Global Human Flourishing is uniquely positioned to serve as a catalyst for transformative impact on individuals and communities, while also engaging students, alumni, faculty, staff, Texas and the world in a shared pursuit of human flourishing, fostering a life of purpose, well-being and meaningful contribution,” Brickhouse said.

First round of data offers insights

The five-year, longitudinal Global Flourishing Study involves about 200,000 individuals in more than 20 countries, representing 45 languages.

Researchers measure global human flourishing across six domains including happiness and life satisfaction, physical and mental health, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, close social relationships, and financial and material stability.

“The first round of findings from the study showed attendance at religious services appears to be an important element related to flourishing across almost all countries,” the report “What Contributes to a Life Well-lived?” states.

“Attendance is generally associated with greater flourishing, even after controlling for other well-known predictors.”

In most countries, the report notes, the positive relationship between flourishing and attendance at religious services is more prevalent than between flourishing and civic participation.

“A statistically significant positive relationship exists between flourishing and religious service attendance in 21 out of 23 countries and territories, compared with 15 out of 23 between flourishing and civil society participation,” the report states.

About 50 Global Flourishing Study researchers spent the past year gleaning insights from the first wave of data.

In addition to the correlation between flourishing and attendance at religious services, they identified two other key insights.

• Global differences in flourishing: The study revealed many middle-income developing countries were doing better in terms of meaning, purpose and relationships than the richer developed world. Countries like Indonesia, Mexico and the Philippines fared particularly well, while other nearby countries like Japan, Turkey and the United Kingdom did not.
• Younger generations lagging:The study revealed younger people appear to be not doing as well as older people when compared to the generations that came before them. Flourishing tends to increase with age in many countries including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. Many the youngest age group (18- to 24-year-olds) reported the lowest levels of flourishing.

Based in part on information provided by Lori Fogleman of Baylor University Media and Public Relations.

NASHVILLE (BP)—Although a recent Pew Research study says more teens are becoming aware of the negative effects of social media, that doesn’t mean they’re ready for anything resembling a large-scale break from it.

The study says nearly half (48 percent) of teens say social media sites have a mostly negative effect on peers, an increase from 32 percent who said so in 2022. The increase could be linked to a focus on mental health among teens, who have turned to platforms like TikTok for information on the subject.

The 16-point swing in such a short time toward seeing social media as a negative influence on mental health may lead to the conclusion that teens are on the cusp of a movement away from it. However, the same study also revealed only 14 percent of teens felt social media affected them personally in a negative way.

In other words, it’s everyone else’s problem.

That points to social media’s cultural hold not just on teens, but on society in general, said Chris Martin.

Martin, director of content for Moody Global Media and author of The Wolf in Their Pockets: 13 Ways the Social Internet Threatens the People You Lead, wonders about the correlation between social media sentiment and its use.

“I have found what teenagers say about their social media usage and their actual practices to be at odds,” he said.

So, that doesn’t mean teens are using it less.

“People engage in habits and substances they think are bad for them, because they are afraid of what may happen if they stop,” Martin said.

‘It’s not going away’

Social media has become much more than staying in touch with friends, said Zac Workun, a Lifeway Student Ministry training specialist based in Tulsa, Okla. It is where they get education as well as entertainment.

“It’s not going away,” Workun said. “Teens may not be aspiring to be the influencers we thought they would, but TikTok and YouTube have become their key media platforms for learning about the world.”

Teens’ mixed feelings about the negative effects of social media may be the reason flip phones have seen a resurgence, “but they’re probably not going to quit it,” Workun said.

While more teens are acknowledging how social media can affect one’s mental health negatively, Workun pointed out another factor observed more often by student ministry leaders.

“They’re distracted,” he said. “Even if in the room, so many of them aren’t present. Adults can also be guilty of that, of course. We’ll try to be in multiple places at once and on our phones to answer an email or text.”

Many youth ministries create “phone-free zones” to keep kids’ attention in the room.

A significant number of teens said social media hurt the amount of sleep they get (45 percent) and their productivity (40 percent).

However, they also said social media helped rather than harmed friendships, 30 percent to 7 percent. Most (43 percent) described such platforms’ effects in neutral terms.

And while 44 percent of teens said they have cut back on their social media and smartphone use—an increase from 39 percent for social media and 36 percent for phone use in 2023—more than half (55 percent) say they have not cut back on either.

NASHVILLE (RNS)—American organized religion is a bit like a scene from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” It has been on the decline for decades, but churches aren’t dead yet.

A new survey from Nashville-based Lifeway Research found 94 percent of Protestant pastors believe their church will still be open in 10 years, with 78 percent strongly agreeing that will be true.

Four percent of pastors say their church will close, with the other 2 percent saying they don’t know, according to the survey released April 15. Conducted over the phone, it surveyed 1,003 randomly selected Protestant pastors between Aug. 8 and Sept. 3, 2024.

Those pastors may be right, say researchers who study the American religious landscape.

Duke University sociologist Mark Chaves, who runs the National Congregations Study, said past studies found about 1 in 100 churches close each year. So, the idea that most churches will be around in 10 years isn’t surprising.

“An interesting thing about churches as organizations is that they have ways of staying alive in a very weakened state,” Chaves said in an email. “Other organizations would close, but weak churches have ways of staying alive.”

Short-term optimism

Scott Thumma, director of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, said the long-term trends for congregations are more worrisome. But in the short term, congregations have become more optimistic.

In a 2021 study of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on congregations, 7 percent of church respondents reported their existence was threatened, and 5 percent said their church was in serious financial difficulty.

By 2023, 3 percent of churches surveyed said they were in serious financial difficulty. That same year, in a study about how the pandemic has affected churches, 2 percent of church leaders said they were feeling very negative about their church’s future, while 9 percent were somewhat negative.

Lifeway’s findings that few pastors thought their churches would be closing were “within the ballpark,” Thumma said.

He also said small churches with few staff members and that have paid off their building can keep going for a long time. They may have already seen some decline and know how to cope with it.

Things are harder, he said, for midsize churches that no longer have enough people or money to sustain themselves.

“Small churches can be resilient for a long time, especially when their building is paid for,” said Scott McConnell, director of Lifeway Research.

Twenty-year outlook not good

While many churches may survive the next decade, the 20-year outlook is bleaker.

“People who are in their 70s now won’t be gone in 10 years, but they will be gone in 20 years,” Thumma said. “That’s where you’re going to see the real drop.”

Count Nic Mather of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Longview, Wash., among the pastors who are optimistic for the future. The church has seen a slow but steady stream of newcomers in the last few years, mostly people who are seeking spiritual meaning and the kind of close-knit community the church offers.

“There’s a power of being in community with others,” he said. “And that ethos and sense of community is so strong here that it continues to attract people.”

Mather said his congregation is aware people don’t come to church in the way they did in the past. That’s made it focus more on reaching out to neighbors. The church also allows a number of community groups to use its building, seeing it as a resource for those neighbors.

“We are truly a hub for our community. So many people come into our building for things that aren’t church that I can’t imagine this place not being here,” he said.

Bob Stevenson, pastor of Village Baptist Church in Aurora, Ill., also is optimistic about his congregation’s prospects.

“We’re 40 years old and we have weathered quite a bit, and so unless there is some scandal or some major change socioeconomically in our area, I don’t see anything changing in terms of the church itself,” he said.

Stevenson said the church, which draws about 120 worshippers and is ethnically diverse, has taken steps to “future-proof” itself. That includes paying attention to the integrity of its leadership, something some churches have ignored to their peril.

He also said the church has a strong, committed core of members, which will help it continue for the long term.

Still, he said, COVID-19 taught him and other church leaders that no one can predict the future.

Know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em

Ryan Burge, a former pastor and author of The American Religious Landscape, said it’s hard to know when a church is ready to close. Burge, a political scientist at Eastern Illinois University, was the longtime pastor of First Baptist Church in downstate Mount Vernon, which closed last summer.

His church, which was more than 150 years old when it closed, had been on the decline for years but rallied more than a few times. Eventually, as older members of the congregation died, there were no young people to take their place.

“All it takes is two or three people to die in close succession, and it’s game over for a lot of those churches,” he said.

The new Pew Religious Landscape Study found 85 percent of Americans ages 65 and older identify with a religion, and 78 percent identify as Christian. However, only 54 percent of Americans under 30 identify with a religion, including 45 percent who say they are Christian.

Lifeway Research found some indication the rate of churches closing might have increased. The survey includes a look at data from the Southern Baptist Convention showing that 1.8 percent of congregations disbanded or closed in 2022, the last year with data available.

If that annual percentage were to hold steady over the next decade, it would mean about 18 percent of churches would close during that time, which is more than pastors surveyed would have predicted.

McConnell also said some of the churches that closed may not have had a pastor, which could explain the difference between how pastors feel and the statistics.

“But if we assume the pastors’ survey is accurately reaching enough churches close to shutting down, then yes, Southern Baptist pastors would seem to be more optimistic than the statistics say they should be,” he said in an email.

Still, Burge said pastors are by nature optimistic about the future. That’s part of the job.

“Revival is always around the corner—if we just get one thing to break our way, things will be better,” he said. “You don’t want to have the mentality that we are going to close.”

And even if pastors know churches will close, they may often believe it will happen to other churches, but not theirs.

“Everyone thinks that churches are going to close,” Amanda Olson, the longtime pastor of Grace Evangelical Covenant Church on Chicago’s North Side, told RNS in 2022, just before the church’s last service. “But nobody thinks it is going to be their church.”