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	When It Comes to Religion, U.S. Is a Nation of Shoppers, Study Finds By Jennifer Garza Sacramento Bee April 28, 2009 http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/1815127.html To say that Brenda Boles is a spiritual seeker is an understatement. As a teenager, she was baptized in a Chinese Baptist church. Then she married an Episcopalian and became a mainstay at Sunday services. Now she is a member of Sacramento's Spiritual Life Center, an Interfaith Unity church. "This is what I have been looking for," said Boles of Sacramento, who was raised by non-churchgoing parents. "I've found my church home." The United States has become a nation of spiritual shoppers. More than half of Americans have changed their religious affiliations at least once in their lifetime and that's a "conservative" estimate," said Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. Monday, the forum released "Faith in Flux," the most in-depth study ever undertaken on why people leave religious affiliations. According to the survey, reasons for leaving childhood affiliations varied. Catholics are likely to leave because they disagree with church teachings or doctrine. Protestants switch because of lifestyle choices such as moving or marrying a person of another religion. "The reasons for leaving their affiliation or changing are as diverse as the religious marketplace," said John Green, a University of Akron political scientist and senior fellow with the Pew Forum. The study follows up the Pew Forum's 2007 study on the U.S. religious landscape, which noted that 44 percent of people left their childhood religious affiliation. For this study, researchers contacted 2,800 of 35,000 adults in the previous survey. This follow-up report explores the reasons for these changes, how often and when people are likely to change religious affiliations or walk away from faith traditions altogether. A growing number – 16 percent, or more than ever before – now identify themselves as unaffiliated with any religion. Many said they left because they are unhappy with religious leaders or institutions. Boyce Hinman, 70, a Citrus Heights retired state worker, left his church last year. Raised a Protestant, Hinman had attended various denominational congregations over the years. Eventually, he decided what he heard in church every Sunday didn't make sense to him anymore. "I just think there can't be a really loving God out there and have so much suffering in the world," Hinman said. He didn't make the decision suddenly. "It was a gradual decision I made over time," he said. Nearly three-quarters of Catholics and Protestants who are now unaffiliated said they had just gradually drifted away from their faith, according to the survey. "Very few have a road-to-Damascus moment," said Greg Smith, a Pew research fellow who said few decided to leave over a particular incident. "The process happens over time." Many who leave their childhood faith do so by the time they are 24, with most finding their current religion by the age of 36. Few change religions after 50, according to the survey. Catholicism suffered the biggest loss. The number of people leaving the church outnumbers the number of people joining by a 4-1 margin, according to Smith. Two-thirds of former Catholics said they left the church because they stopped believing in the faith. Fewer than three in 10 cited the clergy sexual abuse scandal as a factor in leaving the church. The Catholic Church's high retention rate – 68 percent – is due largely to immigration and fertility rates, said Smith. The fastest growing group in the survey is the unaffiliated. However, this group also has the lowest retention rate as most people eventually join a faith tradition. They do so for a variety of reasons, including attraction to religious services (74 percent) and a belief that they are called by God (55 percent). It is common for many Protestants to change denominations, going from Methodist to Presbyterian, for example. Fifteen percent said they have switched from childhood traditions. These changes often have to do with what's going on in their lives rather than doctrinal differences. Four in 10 said they switched denominations because they relocated to a new community. Overall, the report has good news and bad news for religious leaders, say experts. On one hand, there is a decrease in affiliation loyalty. On the other hand, people are drifting and "are recoverable," Green said. "What this means is that we live in a competitive religious marketplace," said Green. "Religious leaders have to be able to attract and keep people if organizations are going to be viable." Call the Bee's Jennifer Garza, (916) 321-1133, jgarza@sacbee.com
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