What are Americans looking for spiritually?

Soul Searching: What Spirituality Means to Americans Today—the second release in our Spiritually Open series, available on Barna Access Plus—investigates the different ways people see or describe their own faith today, beyond only checking a box for affiliation. In this excerpt, we’ll hone in on the top 10 things Americans are looking for in spirituality, as well as what pastors assume people are in need of.

People Are Mostly Looking for Inner Peace Beyond the general concepts people use to describe what spirituality means to them—U.S. teens and adults often use words like spiritual, growing, open and content to define their spirituality—there is wider differentiation in how people describe the aim of their soul searching.

So, what are the desired paths and destinations for people on their spiritual journeys?

When Barna asked teens and adults in the U.S. to share what, specifically, they are looking for in their spiritual beliefs, the plurality chooses inner peace (37%), followed by hope (35%). Other things people hope to find in their spirituality include healing and forgiveness (30% each). More than one-quarter lean toward truth (29%), purpose (29%), guidance (28%) and growth (26%). Meaning and salvation (25% each) round out the top 10 spiritual pursuits.