After a year of interviewing thousands of adults, ministers, and young people, many insights into the spiritual contours of Americans emerged from the studies conducted by The Barna Group. In his annual yearend summary of some of the highlights and lowlights from his company’s research, cultural analyst George Barna noted that there is reason to be encouraged – and concerned.

Reflecting on the more than 10,000 interviews his firm completed during 2004, Barna identified some of the outcomes he felt were most noteworthy. Those facts were divided into four types: the most encouraging outcomes, the most surprising   findings, the most disappointing   revelations, and the most significant challenges.

Ten Encouraging Outcomes

In a year when the presidential election focused the spotlight on people’s faith, various Barna studies gave reasons to be encouraged about the faith of Americans. He offered these ten outcomes as particularly hopeful signs.

• 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. For related information, see Public Divided on Marriage Amendment.
• 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. For related information, see Giving to Churches Rose Substantially in 2003.
• 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. For related information, see Ethnic Groups Differ Substantially on Matters of Faith.
• 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. For related information, seeEvangelism is Most Effective Among Kids.