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Excerpts from the
November 10, 2018 edition of
The FOSTER Letter—Religious Market Update
Faith Impacts
Gen Z’s Moral Views Engaged Christian teens are a
stark contrast to their peers on moral issues. For instance, 77% of
engaged Christian Gen Z’s say lying is wrong vs. 38% of their
churched counterparts and 20% of those who claim no faith. Among
engaged Christian Gen Z’s 76% believe sex before marriage and 77%
that homosexual behavior are morally wrong vs. 5% and 4%
respectively among those with no faith and 25% and 24% respectively
of churched Christians.
(ECPA Rush to Press
10/15/18)
Many of The Least Churched
Regions are in rural
America, where about 14% of the U.S. population lives, claims Pew
Research. Counties where residents have the least ties to a local
church are scattered all across the nation also tend to have high
poverty levels. Pew found poor white Americans in the South, where
many rural communities exist, are prone to skipping church. For
example, 32% of white Southerners who make less than $30,000 a year
seldom or never go to church. That drops to 27% for those who make
more than $100,000 a year. However, there is some good news for
rural churches. After years of population decline, rural areas have
begun to make a comeback: In ’17, they grew by about 33,000
residents nationwide after losing more than 15,000 in ’16. (Facts & Trends
10/2/18)
Christians Serving God @ Work
Though Christian workers more often associate religious
and pastoral roles with being a calling or serving the common good,
it may not matter to most whether they or someone else works in a
“sacred” or “secular” space. 64% of Christians say neither one is
superior to the other. Also 64% of employed Christians agree on some
level that it’s clear to them how their own work serves God or a
higher purpose.
(Barna
9/19/18)
Need to
Control Costs by “right-sizing” your company or ministry? I can
help steer you through this delicate process. Unless very carefully
done, it can become a disastrous staff de-motivator. I can
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implementation strategy. Contact me at 419-238-4082,
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Humility Is Making a Comeback,
according to a The Wall Street Journal report
and some companies are even hiring for this trait. The report notes
that 3 recent studies have found those leaders who are considered
humble “inspire close teamwork, rapid learning and high performance
in their teams.” Similarly, employees who display the trait are less
likely to quit or be absent from work. However, unlike charismatic
or spotlight-craving leaders, humble ones tend to fly under the
radar and are harder to find.
(LinkedIn
10/15/18)
Gen Z
Open To Faith Although only 4 in 10 attend religious services
weekly, 78% of older Gen Z’s say they believe in God, according to a
Northeastern Univ. survey. Yet, they are lost. They are not simply
living in and being shaped by a post-Christian cultural context.
They do not even have a memory of the gospel. They are extremely
spiritually illiterate and have little if any spiritual direction
from their families.
(Facts &
Trends 9/29/17)
Disturbing Core Doctrine
Confusion A majority
of evangelicals now believe God accepts the worship of all
religions, according to a new Ligonier Ministries study.
In The State of Theology survey that interviews 3,000
Americans, evangelicals were asked about their views on a series of
theological statements including: “God accepts the worship of all
religions, including Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
51% of respondents agreed with
the statement, while 42% disagreed vs. 49% and 43% respectively two
years ago. Among other troubling theology embraced by evangelicals
is a majority of evangelicals believe most people are basically good
by nature and Jesus was the first and greatest being created by God
the Father; 78% of evangelicals now agree with this vs. 71% in ’16.
Top of
Form
Ligonier’s Stephen Nichols
says, “These results are a serious cause for concern.”
(Christian Post
10/16/18)
Caring Spectrum Squeeze
According to sociologists,
an adult child caring for a parent is increasingly common for
married couples in the Boomer or Buster generations. Because the
average age for marriage has inched up (27 for women and 29 for men)
and life expectancies are now just below 80, many of us can
anticipate supporting two generations at some point in our lives.
According to Pew, 68% of
adults between 40 and 59 have at least one parent 65 or older. Of
that group, 55% are already providing some form of help to both a
parent and one of their own children. Caring for family on both ends
of the spectrum, growing kids and aging parents, can compromise even
the healthiest marriage.
(Christianity
Today Online 10/11/18)
Morality a Grey
Area to Gen Z 24% of Gen Z strongly agrees
that what is morally right and wrong changes over time based on
society, finds Barna. Twice as many Gen Z than Boomers (12%) believe
this. The centrality of the self as moral arbiter is also higher
among the younger generations, 21% of Gen Z and 23% of Millennials
believe each person is his or her own moral authority, though Gen X
(18%) and Boomers (17%) aren’t too far behind. Elders are a
shrinking proportion of the overall population but for perspective,
61% strongly agree lying is immoral vs. 31% of Gen Z. There is a
continuous slide by generation in conviction about this moral
principle. (Barna.com
10/9/18)
More
Young Evangelicals The number of Americans, 18 to 34, with
evangelical beliefs (as defined by LifeWay Research) “rose
significantly” from 14% in ’16 to 18% in ’18. Study sponsor,
Ligonier Ministries, notes a “large increase” in millennials
affirming that salvation is found in Christ alone (62% vs. 53% in
’16) and that Jesus Christ will return to judge the world (64% vs.
55% in ’16). In contrast, 53% of all U.S. millennials now agree the
Bible “contains helpful accounts of ancient myths but is not
literally true,” continuing a trend up from 46% in ’16 and 44% in
’14. 36% of U.S. millennials are also now viewing God as
“unconcerned with my day-to-day decisions”: 36% agreed in ’18 vs.
30% in ’16 and 21% in ’14.
(Christianity Today Online 10/16/18)
Performance in the business environment can be traced to 3
employee qualities: mission ownership, a sense of urgency and
personal commitment. I can help you assess employee performance in
these areas and point your company to higher productivity and
profits by maximizing existing staff talent. Contact me at
419-238-4082,
Gary@garydfoster.com or
www.garydfoster.com.
Gen Z Trying to Climb Out of
Student Debt The
average American college student owes
$28,500 in student loans. Collectively, the U.S. has around $1.5
trillion in student debt. According to a UCLA survey, after seeing
their millennial predecessors drown in student debt, Gen Z is trying
to avoid that fate. The share of freshmen who used loans to pay for
college peaked in ’09 at 53% and has declined almost every year
since, falling to 47% in ’16. (Movie Guide
10/15/18)
Aging Congregations Cause
Concern Unless
current social trends change, Mainline Protestant churches will face
an even bigger drop-off in coming years. A Hartford Seminary study
shows mainline Protestant churches are losing members but
evangelical Protestant, Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian
congregations are experiencing dips or stagnation as well. About 25%
of members are 65 or older in 60% of mainline denominations, 24% of
evangelical churches and 36% of Roman Catholic churches. Also, aging
congregations often have less clarity of purpose. The less a church
feels it is distinctive, the weaker it’s spiritual vitality and vice
versa. Congregations with a strong sense of identity and mission
have a much higher level of vitality. (Insights into Religion
10/18/18)
Confidence in Pope Down As allegations and investiga-tions of
sex abuse in the Catholic Church become more widespread, a new Pew
Research Center survey finds that confidence in the way Pope Francis
is handling the crisis has plummeted among U.S. Catholics. Just 3 in
10 Catholic adults say Francis is doing an “excellent” or a “good”
job addressing the issue, down 24 points since ’15 and 14 points
from when Pew Research Center last asked the question in January of
this year. (Pew
Research Center 10/3/18)
Many Christians Hold New Age
Views, including
belief in reincarnation, astrology, psychics and the presence of
spiritual energy in objects like mountains or trees. Many
religiously unaffiliated Americans also have these beliefs, reports
Pew Research Center. Roughly 60%
of U.S. adults accept at least one of these New Age beliefs. 40%
believe in psychics and that spiritual energy can be found in
physical objects, while somewhat smaller shares express belief in
reincarnation (33%) and astrology (29%). But these aren’t
necessarily replacing belief in traditional forms of religious
beliefs or practices. While 80% of Christians say they
believe in God as described in
the Bible, 60% believe in one or more of the 4 New Age beliefs
analyzed, ranging from 47% of evangelical Protestants to 70% of
Catholics and Protestants in the historically black tradition.
(Pew Fact Tank
10/1/18)
Stressed Teens
The Huffington Post recently wrote an article about teens being
more stressed than adults today. It suggested teens have very
poor sleep, exercise and
technology habits (the average teen consumes an average of
7.5 hours of media per day),
which may be linked to their high stress level. These poor
habits factor into a lot of things, such as part-time jobs,
early-morning classes, homework, extracurricular activities, social
demands and use of computers and other electronic gadgets.
USA Today reported 27% of
teens say they experience ‘extreme stress’ during the school year
vs. 13% in the summer. And 34% expect stress to increase in the
coming year. Stressors range from school to friends, work and family
and they average 5-6 hours of sleep a night. The busyness
they embrace keeps them from having to reflect on their dreams,
their relationships and their lives.
(ChurchLeaders.com
10/16/18)
Sketch-a-Fridge Currently only available in Brazil, a GE
refrigerator is covered in a special coating similar to dry erase
whiteboards. Replacing the age-old practice of sticking grocery
lists and children’s drawings on the fridge, missives can now be
written directly on the appliance and easily wiped off. It’s a
simple innovation that cleverly integrates existing human behavior
and it turns a mundane product into something playful and appealing.
Opportunities? When rethinking a product or service, don’t just
focus on features or haute design. An element of fun can be just as
much of a sales magnet at a fraction of the cost. I’ll be happy to
work with you and your team to re-invent, not just refresh, your
products. Contact 419-238-4082,
Gary@garydfoster.com or
www.garydfoster.com.
(Springwise.com 6/27/07)
Americans Are Friendly but
Lonely 62% of U.S.
adults have between 2 and 5 close friends but 20% regularly or often
feels lonely, finds Barna Research.
Those who report the highest levels of loneliness are single, male,
young and likely earning a lower income. Those who aren’t working or
those who are part of the growing proportion of Americans who work
remotely or for themselves, are likely making fewer friends because
42% of adults meet their friends on the job. Outside of their work
place, adults meet their closest friends through other friends (35%)
and in their neighborhood (29%). Celebrations are what bring
together most U.S. neighbors: 24% say they eat dinner together, 23%
celebrate birthdays or holidays together and 22% gather for
neighborhood events.
(Barna 10/23/18)
Beware of E-Cigs and Vaping.
A new study of nearly
70,000 people found daily e-cigarette use can double the risk for
heart attack. If the user continues to smoke regular cigarettes each
day along with e-cigarettes, the combined risk goes up 5 times.
Worse still, another study found e-cigarette vapor can contain up to
5 cancer-causing toxins. And yet another study published in
Pediatrics found youth who experiment with e-cigarettes were
nearly two times more likely to become established smokers of
regular tobacco cigarettes. In April, the FDA launched the
Youth Tobacco Prevention Plan,
designed to address the growing use of e-cigarettes in preteens and
teens. In early September, the FDA took the historic action
of sending over a thousand warning letters and administering 131 fines to
stores for the illegal sale of e-cigarettes to minors.
(CNN 10/20/18)
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