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NATION LOSING PROTESTANT MAJORITY

The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey by the Pew Forum estimates the U.S. is 78% Christian and about to lose its status as a majority Protestant nation, at 51% and slipping. More than 25% of U.S. adults have left the faith of their childhood for another religion or no religion. Factoring in moves from one stream or denomination of Protestantism to another, the number rises to 44%. 25% of adults 18 to 29 claim no religious affiliation. 3 times as many are moving into no affiliation than moving to affiliation. While nearly 1 in 3 Americans were raised Catholic, fewer than 1 in 4 are Catholic today. Changes in Protestant affiliation are swelling the ranks of non-denominational churches, while Baptist and Methodist are showing net losses. Although evangelical churches strive to win new believers from the "unchurched," most converts to evangelical churches were raised Protestant. For all of the attention they get, non-Christian religions still constitute only about 5% of the American population.

(NY Times 2/26/08, Christianity Today 2/27/08)"Christianity in America"

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