California-based pollster George Barna reports notions of major American spiritual revival, and particularly spiritual awakening among men, are mythical.
“There does not seem to be a revival taking place in America,” Barna said in a statement released with an annual survey that showed little change in religious beliefs and behavior tracked by his Barna Research Group.
“Whether that is measured by church attendance, born-again status or theological purity, the statistics simply do not reflect a surge of any noticeable proportions,” Barna said. “The increase in Bible reading may be setting the stage for such a revival, but it does not appear to be occurring at the moment.”
Barna’s organization reports that Bible reading was popular in the early 1990s, then fell out of favor later in the decade. Now, it reports that 40 percent of adults read the Bible in a typical week.
Barna said there has not been a sizable increase in evidence of Christian men’s spiritual activity.
The Ventura, Calif.-based organization also reported 40 percent of adults attend church services on a typical Sunday. That figure is relatively unchanged since 1994 but is a significant drop from the early ’90s when close to half of all adults attended church on Sunday.
The survey showed born-again Christians continue to represent 41 percent of adults.
The survey results are based on telephone interviews with a random nationwide sample of 1,002 adults and have a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
(RNS)
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