There has been a steady decline in the number of nuns in the United States in recent decades. In 1965 there were around 180,000 while today there are around 45,000, and 75% of those are over the age of 70. Recently, however, I have read several articles about several orders seeing increases in young women wanting to join. The numbers are still small. The really large increase is in the number of “nones.”

In religious surveys, Americans claiming no religion are often referred to as “nones,” and their numbers have steadily increased over the last few decades. In 2007 about 16% of Americans were “nones” whereas now the percentage is 23%. Ironically the percentage of Americans who are strongly religious has remained relatively constant at around 34%. The increase is largely generational; over 30% of Millennials are “nones.” Another irony is that even among the “nones” the number of agnostics or atheists is very small.

There are several possible explanations for this increase. One is the presence of hypocrites in the Church, but this criticism has been around pretty much unchanged for centuries. Surveys have shown that Millennials (both those who are “nones” and those still actively religious) do view the Church as being more judgmental than in the past, especially on social issues such as gay marriage and the role of women. To many young people “evangelical” is a political term. Other explanations are tied to the fact that Millennials view the churches as being stodgy, overly formal, insular, out of touch, and unwelcoming. I suspect that these criticisms are only part of the explanation, for other institutions, such as civic organizations, have also seen steep generational declines in membership.

How do we reach the “nones?” The good news is that almost all of them view themselves as “believers”, albeit many times in an amorphous, vague form. As noted above there has even been a very small increase in those called to be a nun. There have been a number of good suggestions of what should be done: be authentic, be welcoming to all, avoid insider jargon, make church practical to the way people live their lives, be less formal and ritualistic, involve members in small groups, and have more community involvement to name a few. These are all good, and every congregation should study and pray about these and other ways to reach out.

Our biggest obstacle to reaching “nones” is their problem with religious institutions, which have arisen from human actions from the time of Constantine and are not intrinsic in the Gospel. I think the “nones” would have no problem with the early fellowship of believers as described in Acts 2:42-47. We should adhere to this model and avoid the denominational doctrines, practices and rituals that divide modern Christians.

Please read Acts 2:42-47 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Jim