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October 23, 2024

Church
Faith

Christians Want to Help the Church Realign to ‘Be What Jesus Intended’

While Americans have mostly positive opinions of Jesus, their perceptions of the Church as a whole are not always favorable

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Barna data also shows that the Church’s reputation is wavering in areas like pursuing justice and solving local problems

The good news: 57% of U.S. Christians say they're at a point in their spiritual journeys where they want to help the Church refocus on what’s truly important

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Now is the time to equip your congregation to harness this drive.

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This content is part of the State of the Church initiative, produced in partnership with Gloo.

Time and again, U.S. teens and adults have told Barna that, while they have mostly positive opinions of Jesus, their perceptions of the Church and Christians as a whole have often led them to doubt Christian beliefs.

Other data from past Barna studies shows that the Church’s reputation in specific areas like pursuing justice and stepping up to help solve local problems is wavering among both teens and adults alike. Reporting from our Spiritually Open research also shows that while most Christians (48%) view Christianity as a faith they respect “a lot,” just 15 percent of people with no faith say the same.

Right now, it seems, most Christians (57%), including over seven in 10 practicing Christians (76%), are at a point in their spiritual journeys where they want to help the Church refocus on what’s truly important.

It’s obvious from the responses of both Christians and non-Christians, the Church’s reputation has room for improvement and bridges that need to be built or strengthened.

The silver lining? As shown by the data above, Christians are ready to help the Church rediscover and refocus on what Jesus intended for it. Now is the time to equip your congregation to harness this drive by considering the ways whole-life discipleship is modeled and encouraged in your church. Without this kind of lived faith, the disconnect between Jesus’ teachings and the life of Christians might continue to cause people to doubt the faith and hold the Church at a distance.

This data comes from Barna and Gloo’s ongoing State of the Church initiative. More Trends and stories related to what Christians really believe can be found exclusively on Barna Access Plus

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About the Research

This research is based on a survey of 2,003 U.S. adults (ages 18+) conducted online November 3–8, 2023, via a consumer research panel. The margin of error for the sample is +/- 2 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. Quotas were set for representation by region, race / ethnicity, education, income, age and gender based on the U.S. Census Bureau. The study also included oversamples of young adults (ages 18–35) and non-white respondents. Minimal statistical weighting has been applied to maximize representation.

© Barna Group, 2024

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