Barna Group - Sacred Roots: Why the Church Still Matters

ZONDERVAN

Sacred Roots
Copyright 2013 by by Barna Group

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ISBN 978-0-310-43323-1 (softcover)

EPub Edition DECEMBER, 2013: ISBN 978-0-310-43344-6

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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Cover design and interior graphics: Amy Duty
Interior design: Kate Mulvaney

Printed in the United States of America

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CONTENTS

BY BARNA GROUP

BY JON TYSON

BY RICH VILLODAS

These days, you probably find yourself with less time than ever.

Everything seems like its moving at a faster pace except your ability to keep up.

Somehow, you are weighed down with more obligations than you have ever had before.

Life feels more complicated. More complex.

If youre like most people, you probably have lots of questions about how to live a life that matters. You feel as though you have more to learn than can possibly be learned. But with smaller chunks of time and more sources of information than ever before, where can you turn for real insight and livable wisdom?

Barna Group has produced this series to examine the complicated issues of life and to help you live more meaningfully. We call it FRAMES like a good set of eyeglasses that help you see the world more clearly... or a work of art perfectly hung that invites you to look more closely... or a buildings skeleton, the part that is most essential to its structure.

The FRAMES Season 1 collection provides thoughtful and concise, data-driven and visually appealing insights for anyone who wants a more faith-driven and fulfilling life. In each FRAME we couple new cultural analysis from our team at Barna with an essay from leading voices in the field, providing information and ideas for you to digest in a more easily consumed number of words.

After all, its a fast-paced world, full of words and images vying for your attention. Most of us have a number of half-read or read someday books on our shelves. But each FRAME aims to give you the essential information and real-life application behind one of todays most crucial trends in less than one-quarter the length of most books. These are big ideas in small books designed so you truly can read less but know more. And the infographics and ideas in this FRAME are intended for share-ability. So read it, then find someone to frame with these ideas, and keep the conversation going (see Share This Frame on ).

Furthermore, each FRAME brings a distinctly Christian point of view to todays trends. In times of uncertainty, people look for guides. And we believe the Christian community is trying to make sense of the dramatic social changes happening around us.

Over the past thirty years, Barna Group has built a reputation as a trusted analyst of religion and culture. We offer cultural discernment for the Christian community by thoughtful analysts who care enough to tell the truth about whats really happening in todays society.

So sit back, but not for long. With FRAMES we invite you to read less and know more.

DAVID KINNAMAN

FRAMES, executive producer

president / Barna Group

ROXANNE STONE

FRAMES, general editor

vice president / Barna Group

Learn more at www.barnaframes.com.

Do you think its important to attend a local church? Why or why not?

What do you find most compelling about church either your church or church in general?

What bothers you most about church?

Overall, would you say the people you know friends, co-workers, family members have a generally positive or negative perception of the church? Why?

What do you think is the purpose of the local church? Can you articulate a mission statement in summary?

Do you think churches you know are accomplishing that mission? Why or why not?

If the churches disappeared from your neighborhood or city, in what ways would they be missed or would they?

Welcome to the post-religious age where the once clean-cut ideas about faith and Christianity are breaking down. Suddenly, things dont seem as simple as whether someone is churched or unchurched.

Christian or not.

In or out.

The very language our culture uses has shifted to accommodate this new landscape. There are new disclaimers and perceptions when it comes to matters of the soul: Those who self-describe as spiritual, but not religious individuals who like to associate with what they perceive as the positive elements of spirituality but not the negative associations of organized religion. Or consider the rise of the nones the much-discussed adults who are religiously unaffiliated and who dont want to use any conventional label for their religious faith. And everywhere you turn, the prefix post- is being attached to matters of faith. Post-Christian. Post-denominational. Post-evangelical. Post-religious.

All these words and phrases describe a culture that is edging away from conventional Christianity as though secularization is the new normal. The culture seems to be saying, Christianity? Been there, done that. Church? Whats the point?

Of course, thats not the whole story; Christianity remains vital to millions of people. Yet this disconnection from religion and church is a major part of what many people are feeling. The question this FRAME seeks to answer is set squarely against this cultural backdrop: In what ways does being part of a local faith community a church matter in this increasingly post-Christian setting?