Study finds faith in flux

May 2, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

Though people may leave their childhood religion, the study found vitality.

McClatchy Newspapers

ORLANDO, Fla. — About half of all American adults have changed religious affiliation, most often because they felt spiritually unfulfilled or found a church they liked better, according to a study released earlier this week.

Young adults are most likely to switch churches or stop going to church altogether. Those who leave the religion of their childhood are most likely to do so before they reach age 24, according to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life survey.

The religious “churn” suggests that many Americans, even those who don’t attend church, are constantly looking for religious fulfillment, said John Green, a researcher on “Faith in Flux: Changes in Religious Affiliation in the U.S.”

“There is a real demand side of the religious marketplace that complements the supply side. There are people who are ready, willing and able to change faiths if they find one that appeals to them,” Green said.

The survey had good news and bad news for the Catholic Church.

While Catholics have one of the highest retention rates of people raised in the church, they also are losing more members than they are gaining.

“The thing for Catholics is the number of people leaving outnumbers the people joining the Catholic Church by a 4-to-1 margin,” said Greg Smith, a Pew researcher.

“No other religious group had that kind of ratio of leaving versus people joining.”

Nearly 60 percent of former Catholics who no longer attend any church cited dissatisfaction with the church’s positions on abortion and homosexuality, and half cited its position on birth control. Among Protestants, half said they left because they stopped believing in their church’s teachings.

John and Carol McNally’s family epitomizes the range of reasons that so many Americans shift religious affiliation throughout their lives. John was raised a Catholic and belongs to the 56 percent of Americans who never switched religions.

Carol was raised as an Episcopalian and is among the 30 percent of Protestants who said they left their church because of a lifestyle change such as marriage or moving to a new community. Carol converted to Catholicism in 1979 after attending church services for years with her husband and five children.

“I would stay in the pew while they were taking Communion. There was something missing,” said Carol, 64, of Orlando. “I came for all the appetizers, but I couldn’t stay for the dinner.”

Two of the couple’s five children have left the Catholic faith.

One of their daughters became a Methodist upon marriage, while another married a Baptist who became Catholic.

Their youngest child became a Baptist after she began questioning Catholic beliefs.

“She was the one who was always staring at the ceiling in church and thinking about five different things,” Carol said. “Now she’s active in her church and goes to all sorts of Bible studies.”

The survey of 2,867 adults between Oct. 3 and Nov. 7 also found that most people who leave their church gradually drift away. Carol said her son fits that description. She still holds out hope for her backsliding Catholic son, who is married but childless. Having children, she said, is another one of those lifestyle changes that lead people back to church.

The religious comings and goings within the McNally family show what Pew researchers found: a rich, religious diversity that offers many choices. Rather than signaling a decline of religion, the faiths in flux represent a spiritual vitality.

“These patterns of change are highly correlated to religious diversity,” Green said. “There are a lot of groups for people to move from and move to.”

It doesn’t matter to Carol who among her children is Catholic and who isn’t. The religious diversity around her family table is inspiring and reassuring.

“I’m just glad they have a strong faith to fall back on in times of crisis and need,” she said. “We have some really good religious discussions.”