Ryan Burge is an American academic who writes on religion and politics and plays down persistent claims the US is experiencing something of a Christian revival.
He’s a sociologist who teaches political science at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, after 13-years at Eastern Illinois University.
Before that he was pastor of a Baptist church in Mount Vernon, Illinois, for two decades.
His congregation, nestled in a declining Midwest town with an aging population, eventually withered away, finishing with just 30 congregants unable to sustain a church.
Focused On The Decline Of The American Church
So he knows first-hand about the erosion and gradual erasure of the American church.
The focus of his academic study has been the decline of the church.
Professor Burge argues secular voters are a growing force in American politics with 30% of the population now saying they have no religion, compared to just 5% half a century ago.
He also argues that the term “evangelical” is becoming more descriptive of politics than religion, particularly that of conservatism, rather than its traditional association with adherence to evangelical theology.
Professor Ryan Burge’s Books
He’s written or co-written six books which self-explain his main theme:
- The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going
- 20 Myths about Religion and Politics in America
- The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? (with Collin Hansen, Jim Davis, and Michael Graham) ,
- The American Religious Landscape: Facts, Trends, and the Future
- The Vanishing Church: How the Hollowing Out of Moderate Congregations Is Hurting Democracy, Faith, and Us
- The Great American Church Migration: A Landmark Study of How, Why, and When People Switch Faiths ((with Michael Graham)
Why Is The Church Vanishing?
Professor Burge’s book The Vanishing Church was inspired by his experience as a pastor.
“It’s the question that haunts me. What could I have done?” he asked about keeping his own church open.
His struggle with that is a theme of his book, pushing his work as a sociologist into personal pastoral reflection
Death of His Own Church Reflects A National Trend
Peter Feuerherd writes in the National Catholic Reporter that the question emerges for Professor Burge as a pastor and preacher.
As a sociologist the answer lies in the data, indicating that his closed church is a tiny slice of a national trend.
His number crunching disputes recent anecdotes describing the burgeoning state of American Christianity.
The data leads him to conclude it is actually losing ground, with older and whiter congregations — heavily skewed towards conservative politics — often closer to dying than experiencing long-term growth.
“The Truth People Don’t Want To Hear”
Ryan Burge’s Substack newsletter is followed by thousands and his data analysis is regularly shared with The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CBS News, 60 Minutes and other outlets.
“It’s telling the truth, telling people what they don’t want to hear,” he said.
Even though he personally wants Christian life in America to flourish, he finds little evidence that it’s happening, even as mainstream media outlets feature accounts of young urban professionals flocking to churches in the nation’s biggest cities.
His analysis focuses on the occasional quirky question, such as: Who is more likely to be at Sunday church, finance majors or English majors?
The answer — finance majors — reinforces much of his wider analysis of American Christianity.
“US Churches Turning Monochromatic”
Mainstream Protestant congregations, like his former church, have been declining across the country — a trend that doesn’t just impact denominational leaders, but is felt in America’s increasingly polarised politics,
Professor Burge explains that mainline churches have “long been a great mixing of American life,” noting that in the postwar era Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, could be found sharing a pew on Sundays.
“As remaining Christians gather in largely monochromatic spaces, it’s become easy to demonise those who hold different views.”
“Diverse congregations provide routine lessons in how to play well with others, particularly those with varied viewpoints.”
Without that experience, “these muscles will atrophy,” Professor Burge told the National Catholic Reporter.
“No One Can Believe I Can Be Impartial”
Evidence of the nation’s polarisation can be seen in the attacks by Professor Burge’s critics who argue that he fails to account for why some churches are experiencing growth.
“No one can believe that anyone can try to be impartial,” he said.
While much of his attention focuses on American Protestantism, Catholics are experiencing much of the same trends.
“The wave is not going to wash over one part and not another,” he said.
Professor Straddles Two Denominations
And he should know.
In his personal life, he straddles denominational lines.
His wife is Catholic and so are his two sons.
Professor Burge attends both a Methodist church and his family’s Catholic parish.
Sundays in the Burge household are diverse religious experiences.
“No Sign Of A Catholic Revival”
Regular churchgoing Catholics — about 28% of the total — are becoming more like other US churchgoers with some notable exceptions.
Professor Burge found they are more inclined to accept same-sex marriage than their evangelical peers, a view at odds with church teaching.
They are also more likely to oppose the death penalty.
While media stories feature younger Catholic professionals flocking to urban churches, Professor Burge argues that this is not being seen elsewhere.
“What about Des Moines? What about Mount Vernon, Illinois? Parishes are not seeing massive growth,” he observed.
He has also found no evidence of a purported blue-collar revival.
“People Ignore The Data”
Professor Burge addresses what he describes as a “vibe” among clergy and others hopeful that faith resurgence is happening.
“What’s happened is a phenomenon common to social science.”
“Our minds are drawn to the outliers,” he said, noting that it’s easy to extrapolate from a single example of growth to a wider framework.
“People want to see the anecdote rather than the data.”
“Odd Times For American Church”
In the big picture, Professor Burge said: “We are living in odd times in American religious life.”
“Not only is congregational diversity on the decline, but younger progressives hear a message that they are no longer welcome, or they are no longer interested in church life.”
“In American history, religion had a way of liberating people,” he said, noting the influence of radical religious leaders such as Dorothy Day and Martin Luther King Jr.
“Not any more.”
“The 19th-century reform movement sparked by Protestant clergy who proclaimed the social Gospel is now labeled as heresy in many evangelical pulpits.”
That raises another question for further study: Did Christian doctrine change or did American Christians change?
“I don’t have an easy answer to that question,” Professor Burge responded.
The post Former Pastor Rejects Claims Of An American Revival appeared first on Vision Christian Media.