How do our core relationships engage us in a thoughtful, transformative faith—the kind that holds up to and is passed down over time? This was one of the guiding questions of Barna’s new Households of Faith report, based on an extensive study of practicing Christians and their living arrangements and routines.

One of the goals of this study, conducted in partnership with Lutheran Hour Ministries, was to learn from households that appear to be exceptionally engaged in communal and consistent faith expression in the home. Barna developed a custom metric that sorts households by reports of collective, frequent engagement in key behaviors:

- Spiritual practices—defined here as praying every day or two and reading the Bible weekly all together

- Spiritual conversations—defined here as talking about God and faith at least weekly all together

- Hospitality—defined here as welcoming non-family guests regularly, or at least several times a month