trends
After Roy Moore, evangelicals must trade wishful thinking for soul-searching
By Jonathan Merritt — December 13, 2017
Some people choose to live in houses filled with covered mirrors, but Christians cannot afford to be those kinds of people.
Holy spirits: Closed churches find second life as breweries
By Yonat Shimron — October 9, 2017
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) — The trend started after the 2007 recession as churches merged or closed because of dwindling membership.
‘Christian America’ dwindling, including white evangelicals, study shows
By Kimberly Winston — September 6, 2017
(RNS) — American evangelicals are losing numbers and losing them quickly. Meanwhile, the religiously unaffiliated now form the largest single group in 20 U.S. states.
Muslim refugees to US are declining as Christians overtake them
By Madeleine Buckley — July 12, 2017
(RNS) Since Donald Trump’s inauguration, Christians have outpaced Muslims as the No. 1 faith group to reach these shores as refugees.
Muslim births projected to outnumber Christian births globally by 2035
By Lauren Markoe — April 5, 2017
(RNS) Christianity, nevertheless, will remain the world's largest religious group, a new Pew Research Center study shows.
Pornography: A Christian crisis or overblown issue?
By Jonathan Merritt — January 20, 2016
The Barna Group has released a sweeping study of pornography usage and attitudes in America. How concerned should we be?
Will Rubio’s evangelical ad get his mojo back in Iowa?
By Jonathan Merritt — January 8, 2016
Rubio says he tries to let his faith in Jesus "influence me in everything that I do." Is this message too little, too late for religious voters in Iowa?
Will Trump ruin Thanksgiving? What surveys say about our faith-and-family holiday
By Jonathan Merritt — November 25, 2015
Polls say cranberry sauce is surprisingly divisive, side dishes vary by region, and gratitude for God's blessings is still most important.
Even most Christians agree that Halloween is fun, not pagan
By Jonathan Merritt — October 29, 2015
Less than a quarter of Americans -- and Christians -- avoid Halloween due to its pagan roots. This is good news.
Snapchat spirituality: How technology can be a force for religious good or evil
By Jonathan Merritt — October 15, 2015
After Jefferson Bethke's video garnered 30 million views, he became "YouTube famous." He says that churches and Christians should use technology more effectively, but they should be careful not to abuse it.
After gay marriage, expect conservative amnesia
By Jonathan Merritt — July 2, 2015
Often the losers knit together a version of past events that disposes of the more damning details and casts their side in a more favorable light. But when it comes to history, forgetting the facts is a most dangerous delusion.
The importance of doing your homework
By Jonathan Merritt — May 13, 2015
An ancient rabbi once said that if you prove you can’t be trusted in small things, it will be difficult for others to trust you when it matters most.
Evangelicals’ claims of conservative supremacy are overstated — and misread America’s religious landscape
By Jonathan Merritt — May 13, 2015
A popular evangelical trope is not as true as some assumed. Regardless, evangelicals would do well to focus on reaching people who are apathetic or antagonistic to the claims of Christianity.
Latino evangelicals call for end to death penalty. Will others follow?
By Jonathan Merritt — March 27, 2015
The National Latino Evangelical Coalition urged their 3,000 member congregations to end capital punishment. They are the first major evangelical association to take this position publicly, but support for the death penalty among Christians is waning.
This author says you may be a “poser” Christian and not even know it
By Jonathan Merritt — March 19, 2015
Blogger Jarrid Wilson's new book doesn't pull any punches in its criticism of mainstream Christianity. He claims many Jesus-followers merely have a religious outer shell.
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