Americans rapidly diversifying faith approaches

Faith is still important to many Americans even if how they express and study it may be rapidly changing. Eighty-eight percent of Americans say religious faith is important in their life, according to a survey released by the Christian research firm Barna Group. A fair amount of media attention has been given this year to the decline of Christian affiliation among Americans. The survey indicates there may be more of a shift than a decline, with 75 percent of respondents saying they feel God is still actively work but in different ways that the past. This coincides with half the respondents say either they are or they know people who are bored of traditional church experiences and 71 percent who say their spiritual development is more individual and less tied to a particular denomination. As part of this more individualistic approach, 7 percent of survey respondents attend a house church once a month. This is explosive growth considering house church attendance was about 1 percent a decade ago. There is also a demonstrated growth of television, radio and the Internet as a primary source for spiritual information and inspiration. Link: Barna Group survey results: http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/270-americans-are-exploring-new-ways-of-experiencing-god Individualized faith: http://everydaychristian.com/blogs/post/can_we_podcast_god/