The American religious landscape is experiencing some fundamental changes. The recent Pew Report highlights findings that question many of the assumptions that previous religious leaders and scholars have had about the American people. Pew points out that the rate of the unaffiliated is rising, and for those under thirty, it reaches to a third of this younger generation. And even more telling is that this group, who claim no religious affiliation, often remain believers in God and spiritual in various ways, but they are not seeking a religion; they are happy with what they have.
This upends scholarship of the 1980’s and 1990’s, in which the younger generation was portrayed as “seekers”, and many growing churches were called “seeker-friendly.” What if today, no one is seeking? And even more pointedly, what if people are not buying what churches and other religions are trying to sell? And how will religious leaders deal with the fact that there are fewer potential members even interested in religion?
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