The American Religious Identification Survey reflects how Americans identify themselves
religiously and helps identify trends set by the past generation. Glenmary missions, and the people of the areas served by missioners, both reflect and refute the national trends.
by Father John S. Rausch

CATHOLIC NUMBERS SHIFT: According to the 2008 ARIS study, the number of Catholics living in the Northeast is declining while those same numbers are increasing in areas where Catholics have never been a strong presence—areas like those served by Glenmary missioners and coworkers.

Screaming “The End of Christian America,” an article in the April 13, 2009, issue of Newsweek referenced the findings of the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS). According to the survey, the percentage of self-identified Christians fell from 86 percent in 1990 to 76 percent in 2008. Most of the decline was seen in mainline Protestant denominations, including Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians and the United Church of Christ.
According to the study, the most growth occurred among Christians identifying themselves only as “Christian,” “Evangelical/Born Again,” or “non-denominational Christian,” especially those associated with megachurches.

The total percentage of those describing themselves as Catholic declined only slightly over the 18 years since the first ARIS study was conducted in 1990. At that time, 26.2 percent of those living in the United States described themselves as Catholic; in 2008, that percentage stood at 25.1 percent. One possible reason for the minimal decrease is the increased number of predominantly Catholic Hispanic immigrants who have moved to the United States in the past 20 years.

The ARIS Study The American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) was based on a random telephone survey of 54,461 American residential households in the continental United States conducted in both English and Spanish. The primary question of the interview was: What is your religion, if any? The religion of the spouse/partner was also asked. If the initial answer was “Protestant” or “Christian” further questions were asked to probe which particular denomination. Conducted by the Program on Public Values at Trinity College, the 2008 survey is the third in a series—with earlier surveys conducted in 1990 and in 2001. These surveys provide the only complete portrait of how contemporary Americans identify themselves religiously and how that self-identification has changed over the past generation.

While the Hispanic population in Glenmary mission counties has increased by over 50 percent in this decade, the data collected by the ARIS study indicate that Catholics in dioceses where Glenmary missioners and coworkers serve are more likely to be white than Catholics nationwide.

Glenmary and the ARIS Trends
When Father William Howard Bishop founded Glenmary Home Missioners in 1939, he envisioned converting the mountaineers, the sharecroppers and other rural folks, so when they moved to urban areas, as was the trend, they would swell the numbers in Catholic congregations.

The ARIS study shows this trend has reversed. Catholic churches in New England and the Rust Belt are experiencing decreasing numbers in their congregations and parish consolidations as older Catholics die or retire to warmer climates and their children move to other parts of the country for employment opportunities.

Traditionally, Glenmary has concentrated on the number of Catholics and the number of unchurched persons (those claiming no church home) living in rural counties as ways to determine mission need. Today, the number of Catholics may not tell the whole story of mission need because those numbers are going up.

Glenmary missions have benefited as the Catholic population has increased in many Southern dioceses, a trend identified by the study.

That growth has also been reflected in the increased number of people joining the Church in these dioceses, leading the U.S. Catholic bishops to say in a recent press release that “…the numbers (of people entering the Church this Easter) show the growth and vitality of the Catholic Church in places where it has traditionally been a small minority.”

When people from highly populated areas in the Northeast discover small Glenmary mission communities, they generally welcome the smallness and closeness, which they have not experienced before.

Typically Glenmary missions, located in counties where less than 3 percent of the population is Catholic, receive one to three converts a year. Father Ed Gorny, a senior member who continues to minister at Glenmary’s Claxton, Ga., mission, says, “Folks are attracted by the sacraments, the liturgy, the doctrine and the stability.”

The Unchurched and Inactive Catholics
Probably the most difficult challenge for Glenmary missioners and coworkers is attracting the unchurched and re-evangelizing inactive Catholics. In most Glenmary counties, the unchurched make up about at least 50 percent of the total population.

Although Glenmarians reach out through personal visits and offer gentle invitations, many folks remain resistant or indifferent. Inactive Catholics may complain about bad experiences or the inconvenience of attending Mass. Both groups present unique challenges to the local pastoral minister.

People are often molded by local culture. The individualistic cultures of independent Bible churches, which are very prevalent in mission counties in Appalachia and the South, emphasize personal conversion and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Members speak freely of “getting saved.”

“But our Catholic heritage,” Father Ed says, “would emphasize coming to church for community and participating in liturgy by bodily gestures of singing, kneeling and responding.”

Brother David Henley, who serves as outreach minister in Danville, Ark., says he often meets people who are exhausted from working six days a week and therefore they use Sundays to take care of errands or to shop. Many identify themselves as Christian, even Catholic, but seldom connect with a church community unless a church program serves them or their children.

‘Spiritual’ Rather Than ‘Religious’
The study also highlights the “Nones” (those who stated no religious preference, atheist or agnostic), a group that grew nationally from 8.2 percent to 15 percent in two decades. While the number of “Nones” has risen in Glenmary areas, their number still remains less than the national average.

Often, these folks describe themselves as spiritual rather than religious. Being spiritual can refer to the quest for personal meaning in light of the dehumanizing forces of the world. The quest seeks mutually fulfilling relationships with other people, nature and the “God-within,” even if that God-within differs from organized religion.

The ARIS study concludes that 70 percent of Americans believe in a personal God, roughly 12 percent are atheist or agnostic, and another 12 percent believe in an impersonal higher power.

In areas served by Glenmary, religion and culture are so deeply intertwined that the secularism described by the study has not dramatically affected the small-town sentiments of the Bible Belt.

Father Ed tells a story that typifies a situation most missioners and coworkers find in their mission areas. He often visits a Vietnam War veteran who lives in the county. As Father Ed leaves, the fellow always says: “I’ll be praying for you, Father Ed. You pray for me.”

The fellow remains noncommittal about attending church. Yet Father Ed knows and loves him as a deeply spiritual person.