Despite a growing rejection of organized religion, with fewer than 50% of Americans holding formal church membership, spiritual openness is on the rise, with a majority of U.S. adults saying they believe in God or a higher power and want to grow spiritually. That’s accordion to a new study from the Barna Group.
The data shows that 77% of respondents expressed belief in a higher power, and 74% said they want to grow spiritually.
Less than half of the survey sample, 44%, said they are more open to God than before the pandemic.
Some 80% of respondents said they are certain or think there is a spiritual or supernatural dimension to the world. Another 11% said even though it could be possible, they don’t believe the spiritual world exists, while 9% expressed no belief in the spiritual world.
The findings are similar to Pew Research data published in 2018. That research showed that although 80% of Americans say they believe in God, only a slim majority of the nation’s approximately 327 million people were found to believe in God as described in the Bible.
Barna CEO David Kinnaman noted that “our new data gives Christian leaders cause for hope.”
The Barna CEO said one of the most inspiring features of the open generation for him is based on findings from The Open Generation study, which show that “young people may be fueling this rise in spiritual hunger.”