US: Evangelicals pessimistic about Christianity's future

|PIC1|A survey of evangelical leaders in the US has found that while there is overwhelming optimism on the growth of Christianity in the world, there is mostly pessimism when it comes to the future of the faith on the home turf.

“Evangelical leaders are very bullish on the future growth of Christianity, except in America,” said Leith Anderson, president of the 30 million-member National Association of Evangelicals (NAE).

In the latest Evangelical Leaders Survey, released Tuesday, respondents said they overwhelmingly (94 per cent) believed the number of Christians worldwide would increase in the next 10 years. A mere four per cent of respondents said the number of Christians would stay the same, while two per cent said they were unsure.

No one predicted the number of Christians would decrease.

The expectations for Christianity’s growth, however, focused on the Global South where the religion is currently blossoming.

Gary Benedict, president of the Christian and Missionary Alliance headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, predicted an “increase in South America, Africa and Asia but continued decrease in North America and Europe”, the NAE reported.

Most of the respondents said they believed the number of Christians in the US would stay the same at best, but will more likely decline. However, they expressed hope for a national spiritual awakening spurred by the current economic difficulties and political uncertainties.

Mr Anderson further noted that while respondents were optimistic about the number of Christians in the next 10 years, they were more reserved in their expectations of the religion's influence. Anderson said many of the leaders believed that even with more Christians, the group would have less influence because of secularisation, Islam and persecution.

The influence of Christianity in America is already seen to be in decline as Christians appear confused about their own faith. Last year, a major study on religion in America discovered that the majority of American Christians believe there is more than one way to eternal life. Even 57 per cent of evangelical churchgoers said they believed many religions could lead to eternal life, according to the survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

American Christian leaders called the survey results troubling and an indication of a theological crisis among the country’s Christian population and the growing pluralism in America.

"They (survey results) represent at best a misunderstanding of the Gospel and at worst a repudiation of the Gospel," commented Dr R Albert Mohler Jr, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

The NAE survey results are based off a monthly poll of 100 members of the group’s board of directors. They include heads of 60 denominations and executives of evangelical organisations including missions, universities, publishers and churches. The survey questions the leaders on current events and issues of interest to gauge the evangelical response on a particular topic.