{"id":32499,"date":"2022-09-10T16:11:56","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:11:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/what-does-the-growth-of-nondenominationalism-mean\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T16:11:56","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:11:56","slug":"what-does-the-growth-of-nondenominationalism-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/what-does-the-growth-of-nondenominationalism-mean\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does the Growth of Nondenominationalism Mean?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><\/div>\n<p><em>By Aaron Earls<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The future of American religion is increasingly being driving by the nones and nons\u2014the religiously unaffiliated and the denominationally unconnected.<\/p>\n<p>A new Gallup study finds the percentage of Americans who identify with a specific Protestant denomination has fallen from 50 percent in 2000 to 30 percent in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>That can be tied to a surge in Americans who say they have no religious preference and those who say they are nondenominational Protestants.<\/p>\n<p>From 2000 to 2016, nones rose from 10 percent to 20 percent, while nondenominationals almost doubled as well\u2014climbing from 9 percent to 17 percent.<\/p>\n<p>As a whole, Protestants now make up less than half of the American population (47 percent), according to Gallup.<\/p>\n<div class='code-block code-block-1' style='margin: 8px 0;clear: both'> <\/div>\n<p>Fewer than a quarter of Americans are Catholic (22 percent), down from 25 percent in 2000.<\/p>\n<p>Among Protestants, the most popular denomination is Baptist. Ten percent of Americans say they are \u201cother Baptist,\u201d while 3 percent claim to be Southern Baptist.<\/p>\n<p>The other Protestant denominations mentioned include:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"has-normal-font-size\">\n<li>Methodist (4 percent)<\/li>\n<li>Lutheran (4 percent)<\/li>\n<li>Presbyterian (2 percent)<\/li>\n<li>Pentecostal (2 percent)<\/li>\n<li>Church of Christ (1 percent)<\/li>\n<li>Episcopal (1 percent)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Denominational leaders and pastors have their own theories about why nondenominational has grown at the expense of denominations.<\/p>\n<p>Kevin Smith, executive director of the Baptist Convention of Maryland-Delaware, was not surprised by Gallup\u2019s findings.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSadly, for many \u2018Baptist\u2019 is a sociological indicator rather than an exegetical or ecclesiological one,\u201d he told Baptist Press.<\/p>\n<p>J.D. Greear is pastor of The Summit Church, a Southern Baptist church in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. He told BP the rejection of denominations may have more to do with stereotypes than doctrine.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile many say they prefer a nondenominational church, I think their biggest concern is not wanting to be a part of a church that fits their stereotypes of certain denominations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf a church is big on the gospel, the mission, and loving each other, then denominational affiliation is less of an issue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Who are the nondenominational Christians?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Pew Research\u2019s most recent religious landscape survey also found an increase in nondenominationals.<\/p>\n<p>According to Pew, millennials seem to be more attracted to nondenominational churches than previous generations are.<\/p>\n<p>Among all Protestant denominational families large enough to examine, nondenominationals had the highest percentage of millennials\u201430 percent.<\/p>\n<p>While Baptist, Holiness, Presbyterian, and Lutheran denominations are all majority baby boomer and older, 3 in 5 nondenominational church members are Generation X or younger.<\/p>\n<p>Nondenominational Christians are also more diverse than many Protestant Americans.<\/p>\n<div style=\"clear:both;margin-top:0em;margin-bottom:1em\">\n<div class=\"centered-text-area\">\n<div class=\"centered-text\" style=\"float: left\">\n<div class=\"u0cf8097e49d7d436c21d1bfca397d281-content\">See also&nbsp; What Sparks Evangelical Generosity? Discipleship<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ctaButton\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>While 7 in 10 nondenominationals are white, that number is significantly higher for those who are Presbyterian (81 percent), Baptist (85 percent), Holiness (88 percent) or Lutheran (92 percent).<\/p>\n<p>Nondenominationals are also the Protestant group most likely to be parents with kids at home, as 38 percent of all adult members of a nondenominational church have children under 18.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What do nondenominational Christians believe?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Some theologians worry the growth of nondenominationalism is part of a broader shift in American Christianity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is a trend toward what I call \u2018generic Christianity\u2019 that is very feeling-centered and pragmatic and somewhat anti-intellectual,\u201d Roger Olson, a theology professor at Baylor University\u2019s George W. Truett Theological Seminary, told <em>Christianity Today<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs denominational particularities are ignored or hidden, what\u2019s often left is a \u2018lowest common denominator\u2019 spirituality that is often little more than \u2018worship\u2019 and \u2018discipleship\u2019 devoid of cognitive content. The result is often folk religion rather than historic, classic, biblical Christianity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The good news, however, is that nondenominational Christians are often the group most likely to believe core Christian doctrine.<\/p>\n<p>According to Pew, they are the self-identified Christian group most likely to say they believe God exists (91 percent) and there are clear standards for right and wrong (57 percent).<\/p>\n<p>Self-identified members of a nondenominational church are also among the most likely to pray at least daily, say religion is very important to their life, attend church at least once a week, participate in a small group at least once a week, and read the Bible at least once a week.<\/p>\n<p>Smith, however, says doctrinal distinctives\u2014those theological beliefs that make denominations unique\u2014still have a role to play. \u201cHistoric Protestant identity and confessions will be more important heading forward because \u2018evangelical\u2019 is becoming more and more useless\u201d as a way to describe people theologically.<\/p>\n<p>For Greear, the issue is more about what churches emphasize. \u201cI don\u2019t think the answer is downplaying our denominational affiliations, but \u2018playing up\u2019 gospel love,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe greatest challenge is to clearly proclaim the gospel message to a society that has increasing number of people who have faith in nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<div style=\"background-color:#f2f2f2;color:#32373c\" class=\"wp-block-genesis-blocks-gb-profile-box square gb-has-avatar gb-font-size-18 gb-block-profile gb-profile-columns\">\n<div class=\"gb-profile-column gb-profile-avatar-wrap\">\n<div class=\"gb-profile-image-wrap\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"gb-profile-column gb-profile-content-wrap\">\n<h2 class=\"gb-profile-name\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Aaron Earls<\/h2>\n<p class=\"gb-profile-title\" style=\"color:#32373c\">@WardrobeDoor<\/p>\n<div class=\"gb-profile-text\">\n<p>Aaron is a writer for LifewayResearch.com.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<ul class=\"gb-social-links\"><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class='yarpp yarpp-related yarpp-related-website yarpp-template-thumbnails'>\n<h3>Related posts:<\/h3>\n<div class=\"yarpp-thumbnails-horizontal\">  Pastors Value Denominations Now, Not as Sure About the Future  What Do Pastors Believe About the End Times?  What Do Pastors Believe About the Book of Revelation?  3 Ways to Reach Non-Religious People in Your Community <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Aaron Earls The future of American religion is increasingly being driving by the nones and nons\u2014the religiously unaffiliated and the denominationally unconnected. A new Gallup study finds the percentage of Americans who identify with a specific Protestant denomination has fallen from 50 percent in 2000 to 30 percent in 2016. That can be tied &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/what-does-the-growth-of-nondenominationalism-mean\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;What Does the Growth of Nondenominationalism Mean?&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32499\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}