Between 2009 and 2019 there has been a slow but steady decline of Americans who call themselves “Evangelicals.” Over the past few years, there has been a growing distrust of Evangelicals. Societal and political events have cast doubt from the outside while internal unrest and trauma have fueled a sort of civil war among Evangelicals, leading to a mass exodus of individuals who had grown up in the Evangelical church. All these events have caused both insiders and outsiders to ask “Is the Evangelical movement at an end?”
Perhaps a better question to ask is, “Should the Evangelical movement come to an end?” What part of the Christian witness is strengthened by the title “Evangelical”? What is lost? Are we losing more than we gain by calling ourselves Evangelicals? Is it time to give up the title “Evangelical”? Or is it still worth the effort? All that and more on this edition of Questions From The Pew.
RESOURCES:
Evangelical Has Lost Its Meaning - The Atlantic
The Crisis of American Christianity, Viewed From Great Britain - The Atlantic
US Adults See Evangelicals Through a Political Lens - Barna
“Exvangelicals”: Why more religious people are rejecting the Evangelical label - The Guardian
Are Pastors Discarding the “Evangelical” Label? - Christianity Today
Molly Worthen: Three questions that open up evangelicalism
In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace - Pew Research Center
Religious Landscape Study: Evangelical Protestants - Pew Research Center