Forty-seven percent of American adults read the Bible during a typical week other than when they are at church, according to a study by The Barna Group released in April.
Researchers found a significant increase in religious activity related to five of seven core religious behaviors, and Bible reading led the pack. Barna said only 31 percent of Americans were reading the Bible in 1995, but numbers started increasing in 2004.
Church attendance increased from 37 percent in 1996 to 47 percent in 2006, Barna said, and involvement in small, church-related groups has reached a new high of 23 percent this year. A decade ago, only 17 percent of adults participated in small groups. Church volunteerism increased to 27 percent while adult Sunday School attendance has risen to 24 percent from the 17 percent recorded in 1995, Barna said.
Prayer and evangelism were the two categories that did not show a change over recent years. Eighty-four percent of Americans said they had prayed in the past week, and six out of 10 Christians claimed to have shared their faith during a given time span.
The study was based on random telephone interviews with 1,003 adults across the nation in January.
“It is typical for us to see one or maybe two measures surge forward in a given year, only to stabilize or perhaps retreat to prior levels in subsequent years,” said George Barna, president of The Barna Group.
Meanwhile a study released by Barna May 1 found that some of those same religiously motivated adults may not be intervening enough in their children’s spiritual lives when it comes to the topics raised by the Harry Potter book and film series.
More than 84 percent of teenagers have read or watched Harry Potter, including 77 percent of all church-going teens.
But just 4 percent said they have experienced any teaching or discussions in a church about the spiritual themes set forth in the tales, Barna found.
Among born-again teenagers, only 13 percent said their church addressed the subject of witchcraft. Parents were not a big help either, Barna said, with one-fifth of all teens and one-third of born-again teens discussing the supernatural elements with their mother or father.
“… [H]elping teens to respond biblically to the messages of popular culture — such as those found in Harry Potter — is an important function of parents and church leaders,” said David Kinnaman, vice president of The Barna Group.
For more information on either study, visit www.barna.org. (BP)
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