Barna Trends 2018: What's New and What's Next at the Intersection of Faith and Culture

Yikes! It’s almost October and you’re way, way behind on updating your Rolling 3-Year Strategic Plan. You do that right? Your team, your board, and key volunteers look ahead at least three years, and every fall, you update the plan by one year. Yes? So your plan for 2019-2021 is due soon.Warning! “Sameness isn’t strategy. It is a recipe for mediocrity.”That’s the cautionary wisdom from  Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works . They note: “Every industry has tools and practices that become widespread and generic. Some organizations define strategy as benchmarking against competition and then doing the same set of activities but more effectively. Sameness isn’t strategy. It is a recipe for mediocrity.”Which brings me to this resource, "Barna Trends 2018: What's New and What's Next at the Intersection of Faith and Culture," the annual update from the editorial team at Barna.In the S.W.O.T. section of your updated strategic plan, are you simply refreshing last year’s revision of the previous year’s inadequate research—or are you seriously addressing Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats with current trends, wisdom, and discernment?"Barna Trends 2018" will help!MEDIA TRENDS:• Only 6% of Americans say celebrities are a credible source for news.• What news outlets do we trust? TV news: 69%; local newspapers: 50%; national newspapers: 44%.• Podcasts are watched by 23% of Americans (Millennials: 42%, Gen X: 30%, Boomers: 10%, Elders: 5%).MOBILE PHONE TRENDS:• 70% of parents sleep with their phones, but only 10% say that social media is the last thing they do each night.• 62% of parents check their phone in the first hour of the day.• Of the above group, 74% are checking email first thing in the morning, 51% are reading or sending texts, 48% are on social media, and 36% are reading the news.WORLDVIEW TRENDS:• Only 17% of Christians who consider their faith important, and attend church regularly, actually have a “biblical worldview” (as defined by Barna).• 33% agree that if you do good—you will get good; and if you do bad—you will get bad.• 28% agree that all people pray to the same god or spirit—no matter what name they use for that spiritual being.• 23% agree that many religions can lead to eternal life; there is no “one true” religion. Of that group, Millennials and Gen X agree with that view more than others.HOW WOULD YOU GIVE $100?• 64% would give $100 to a domestic child in need—not a child living overseas.• However, Millennials are the most interested age group in giving to international needs.PASTORS AT RISK OF BURNOUTBarna assessed burnout risk for pastors using 11 factors. “A pastor is low risk if they do not meet any of the factors, medium risk if they meet criteria for one of the factors, and high risk if they meet three or more of the factors.” Here are five of the 11 risk factors:• “Their primary day-to-day tasks do not fit their calling or gifts.”• “Tenure at their current church has been a disappointment.”• “Less confident in their calling today than when they began ministry.”• “Have suffered from depression sometime during their ministry.”• “Frequently feel emotionally or mentally exhausted.”Similar to "Barna Trends 2017," the book spotlights trends in culture, life, and faith. This 2018 edition adds a feature, “The Truth About a Post-Truth Society.” (Shocking stats! Just 36% agree that the church “…has my best interest at heart.”)As you—truthfully—document trends for your 2019-2021 Rolling 3-Year Strategic Plan, you’ll want to read the following articles/sections—or delegate them to your Strategic Planning Task Force (you do have a task force, right?):• Glossary—Theolographics (defines a “post-Christian”)• The “Fake News” Phenomenon (and what’s to blame)• Who Prays for Donald Trump?• The Pastoral Credibility Crisis• Gen Z Views on Sexuality• One in Three Teens Is Cyber Bullied• What Do You Hope Your Child Will Obtain From Their Education?• Degrees of Preparation: The top three things pastors wish they had been better prepared for• Busyness: A New Family TraditionBarna gives us a LOT to think about, but allow me to add more complexity to your planning process. Donald Rumsfeld always used four planning steps whether at Fortune 500 companies or in government. about his second step: “Identify your key assumptions.” In  Rumsfeld's Rules: Leadership Lessons in Business, Politics, War, and Life  he notes that “It is possible to proceed perfectly logically from an inaccurate premise to an inaccurate and unfortunate conclusion.” How do these new trends impact your old assumptions?MORE BARNA TRENDS• Workplace Romance• Eight in 10 Parents Say Their Job Has Never Been Harder• Volunteers View Volunteering as an Act of Generosity• Barna Identifies Five Reasons the World Is No Longer in Agreement About Anything• 29% of Pastors Don’t Attend Conferences• Prayer Is a Rarity Among Church Teams• The Myth of the Lazy Teen• The Ultimate Financial Goal for Life (segmented by generation)• The Dechurched: America’s Greatest Mission FieldFINALLY…• A Q&A on Team Leadership With Gen. Stanley McChrystal (read my review of his 2015 book,  Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World )• More Than Clever Sermons, by Francis Chan• American Ideas About IslamThis is a must-read for your strategic planning process. (You do have a planning process, right?) Read more

Extremely helpful book that outlines well-designed research across three broad sections: Culture, life, and faith. I highly recommend to anyone who is curious to know how the intersection of faith and culture are being interpreted in our time.

I like the stats and I use it for teaching classes

it's very useful to give me an overview.

Another solid Barna summary text re: status and roles of the church

A lot of good and insightful material here in this book.

Barna Research is amazing stuff. Working in ministry this is a great piece every year..

The Barna group is awesome if you like statistics!