rise of the “nones”

Thousands of churches will likely close down. What happens to all that real estate?

By Bob Smietana — March 15, 2024
(RNS) — A new book called 'Gone for Good' looks at the ways that churches could be reused for the public good in the future.

In a secular age, some young Americans still choose religious life

By Elizabeth E. Evans — January 2, 2024
(RNS) — While the numbers of priests and nuns have declined in recent decades, many millennials and Gen Zers still find a calling to religious life in the Catholic Church, even if the path to discernment has changed.

Church for ‘nones’: Meet the anti-dogma spiritual collectives emerging across the US

By Kathryn Post — December 20, 2023
ATLANTA (RNS) — These spiritual communities discard doctrine, prefer questions over answers and have no intention of converting anybody to anything.

Why Americans are leaving their churches

By Jana Riess — December 1, 2022
(RNS) — For sociologist Stephen Bullivant, the question is why it took so long for the religious exodus to happen.

Humanist chaplains guide nonreligious students on quest for meaning

By Kathryn Post — June 17, 2022
(RNS) — ‘The nonreligious have as much of, or more of, a need for meaning, purpose and community as anybody else.’

New book ‘Interpreting Religion’ dares to ask ‘how’

By Kathryn Post — June 13, 2022
(RNS) — How do religious people make meaning? And how are those meanings transmitted, contested and remade?

As religious landscape shifts, reshaped seminaries shed their campuses

By Kathryn Post — June 3, 2022
(RNS) — 'The seminary is not a building, and the work we do is not confined to these walls,' said one seminary president.

How America’s youth lost its religion in 1990s

By Ryan Burge — April 13, 2022
(RNS) — We are living in the aftermath of one of the most dramatic demographic shifts in American history.

Graduate Theological Union’s GTUx is launched to spiritually equip ‘nones,’ activists

By Kathryn Post — March 11, 2022
(RNS) — Their new online learning hub for interreligious activism aims to reach new audiences. 

“Allergic to religion”: Conservative politics can push people out of the pews, new study shows

By Jana Riess — March 12, 2021
Various studies have argued that one reason for the rapid rise of the "nones" may be a backlash against the actions of the Religious Right. Three political scientists have now proved that there's a direct connection.

Religion declining in importance for many Americans, especially for Millennials

By Jana Riess — December 10, 2018
Americans are less religious than ever, especially if they're under 30 -- but even middle-aged Gen Xers are part of the trend away from religion, a new study shows.
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