Encouraging Christian stats from George Barna (reject, homosexuals, creation, America)

[Bright-ness' Shadow]

George Barna Home Page

»Most Americans want their faith in Christ to be reflected in public symbols and language, as evident in public places and policies. Consequently, they support retaining statements such as In God We Trust and One Nation Under God, displays of the Ten Commandments, and teaching creationism in schools.

»A large majority of adults reject the idea of active homosexuals being ordained or retained within the clergy.

»Most Americans – nearly two-thirds of them – continue to give significant amounts of money to churches and houses of worship. Not only did the dollar amount of donations rise, but about three out of every four dollars contributed to a non-profit entity was given to a church last year.

»Born again Christians played a huge role in the outcome of the presidential election. They not only turned out in record numbers – they were a majority of the voters participating on election day – but their solidarity provided President Bush with the margin he needed for re-election.

»Despite numerous economic, political and social challenges, African-Americans remain firmly committed to their Christian faith. They were more likely than people from white, Hispanic or Asian backgrounds to exhibit evidence of Christian practice and Christian belief.

»Thanks to the continued growth of the nation’s population, an estimated 22 million adults have been added to the numbers of churched individuals in the U.S. during the past decade.

»The number of adults involved in small groups has jumped from 12% to 20% since 1994.

»America’s youngest pastors are more aware of, and responsive to, the battle for the minds and hearts of children than are the older pastors.

»Evangelicals stepped up and blended their faith with political action this year. Not only were they boldly in favor of seeing evidence of their faith in all walks of American life, but their unified presence during the election was a key to the outcome.

»Half of all born again adults have endeavored to share their faith in Christ with a non-believer in the past year. Although a large share of those efforts are indirect – such as “lifestyle evangelism” – and few believers are aware of anyone accepting Christ as a result of their efforts, there is a veritable army of Christians who understand and accept the importance of bringing the good news to the world.

Links to related information available on the site.

Bob

[retrorich]

If those stats are encouraging, I would hate to see any discouraging stats!