Where do Evangelical and Protestant church members come from? Are they born into their group or do they convert into this group?
This is the question Brad Wright asks and probes in the 4th chap of his excellent new book, Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites…and Other Lies You’ve Been Told: A Sociologist Shatters Myths From the Secular and Christian Media
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Here are some basic numbers, and the numbers are what percent are born into that group:
Prots 82
RCC 89
EOrth 77
Jewish 85
Muslim 60
Buddhist 27
Hindu 90
Mormon 73
JW 32
Which is a way of indicating how evangelistic groups are. But this isn’t the whole story, and Brad Wright’s study has some interesting facts about Evangelicals.
50% of Evangelicals were raised Evangelical. 30% were raised in Mainline or historically Black traditions; 10% were raised RCC. 6% were raised outside of Christianity completely and 2% were raised in another religion.
Conversions count for a relatively small percentage of evangelicals.
So what about retention rates?
Prots 80%
RCC 68%
EOrtho 72%
Mormons 71%
Unaffiliated retain only about 45% of its own.
Brad’s study shows about 74% of Evangelical youth remain Evangelical. 7% join another denomination, mostly Mainline. 3% join another religion. 16% disaffiliated altogether.
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