Duke University study focuses on the changing American church

American churches increasingly are giving up the trappings of "old-time religion" as they move into the 21st century, with a little more than half featuring choir performances and just more than two-thirds following a written program, a Duke University Changing American Congregations survey reveals.

In a steady move toward Sunday morning informality, almost half of 1,331 churches polled in the 2012 study use drums in their music worship, and in more than a fifth, members occasionally jump, shout or dance. One-quarter of churches, the report said, feature members who speak in "other tongues."

The study also found that churches have grown in ethnic diversity, spawned increasing numbers of nondenominational congregations and enthusiastically embraced electronic media. The use of visual projection equipment has tripled since 1998, the study reported.

The biggest surprise, said Duke sociologist Mark Chaves, the study's lead author, is growing tolerance of homosexuals. Researchers found 48 percent reporting gays and lesbians are permitted to become "full-fledged members" - up 11 points from the 2006-07 survey - and more than a fourth allow them to lead volunteer groups.

"I expected some change given the rapid change in public opinion," Chaves said. "But we're seeing an 11-point increase in just six years. I was a little surprised, too, by the trends in informality of worship. We had noticed the growth from the 1998 to the 2006 survey, but we thought that might plateau. It kind of kicked up more."

The congregations survey, the third in the North Carolina university's project begun in 1998, was released in mid-October.

More diverse

Its findings resonated with Houston ministers, who noted their congregations increasingly are diverse and - in some cases - desirous of a less-structured style of worship.

"The point of congregations becoming more ethnically diverse really isn't a surprise, but then we live in Houston," said Catholic Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, who noted services in the Galveston-Houston Archdiocese are conducted in more than a dozen languages, notably Spanish and Vietnamese.

Houston's First Baptist Church's senior pastor, Gregg Matte, said his church is about 80 percent Anglo, with the remainder made of up of a mix of racial and ethnic groups. Next spring, he said, the church will launch a new Spanish-language congregation.

"As our city has grown more diverse, our churches have grown more diverse," Matte said. "I think that's wonderful. It makes a stronger church. Throughout the New Testament, there was a challenge as people tried to recognize that God could take Jews and gentiles and call them into the Christian church. This amazing thought that we could be one. As our society becomes more diverse, we're embracing this 2,000-year-old tradition that Jesus was speaking about. We just have a different context."

The Duke study found only 11 percent of churches are 100 percent Anglo - down 9 points since 1998 - and that of churches that are predominately Anglo, almost seven out of 10 had African-American members and more than six out of 10 had Hispanic members.

While First Baptist retains a choir, its services increasingly have moved toward popular worship forms.

"People are choosing authenticity over presentation," Matte said. "The music began to sound like music we listen to the other six days a week; our dress, the way we dress the other six days. Instead of presentation, participation began to happen. Man, that is super. Nothing is better than participation."

Catholics more formal

At Houston's First Presbyterian Church, said senior pastor Jim Birchfield, styles of worship range from traditional to laid-back.

"Two of our services are more traditional, featuring a choir," he said. "One of our services is contemporary and informal … including video screens. Our third is a bit of a blend between the contemporary and formal. No video screens, but more informality in the service, and we do use guitars and drums.

In Houston, Catholic churches may remain the most formal. DiNardo noted services follow a written text, but some churches may feature contemporary praise music and congregants raise their hands in praise.

In what may represent the most extreme form of informality - breaking away from organized denominations - the Duke study found that almost a fourth of churches in the survey are independents. Harvey Clemons Jr., senior pastor at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, theorized that many worshippers are "not interested in the worship tradition as much as they are in a relationship and a reality with their creator."

"People want to have connections with other worshippers - relationships that are based on family, friends and similar colleagues," he said. "They want a comfortable worship experience that … represents how they see the world."

Addressing the most controversial aspect of the Duke survey, congregational acceptance of homosexuals, First Presbyterian's Birchfield said, "All who are willing to confess that Jesus Christ is their Lord - including gays and lesbians - are welcome into membership."

Last year, members of the his church narrowly defeated an effort to split from their parent denomination over concerns about issues including ordination of gay clergy.

Bishops' backtracking

Earlier this month, Catholic bishops meeting in Rome backed away from an earlier proposed acknowledgement of "gifts" homosexuals could offer the church, leaving the path to ministering to LGBT people in question.

Responding to the Duke study, Clemons said, "The scriptures are what they are. We have no authority to change or modify them, but every obligation to love every human soul. I think if Christ is anything, he is about love. One of the things so fascinating when Christ showed up and interceded into the affairs of humanity was how he tried to bring the disenfranchised into the faith."