From Pope Francis attempting to console the survivors of the Oklahoma tornadoes to neighbors trying to comfort a friend with cancer, it is a familiar sentiment uttered whenever misfortune strikes.

But what do those prayers mean? More than you might imagine, it turns out, particularly when the pledge comes from someone near to the person suffering, new research suggests.

One national study found that people who were prayed for by someone close to them were the most optimistic about their future – even though individuals receiving prayer were more likely to be facing adversity such as mental or physical health issues or unemployment.

Separate studies have found praying for others to be associated with outcomes from better romantic relationships among young adults to helping older adults cope with living in run-down neighborhoods.

This is still early research in a field that has devoted much greater attention to the less quantifiable question of whether intercessory prayer can physically heal illness. But it indicates people who are sincerely motivated to pray for others may want to consider making their intentions known.

Likely, “It would be a positive thing, especially if you know the person,” said researcher Markus Schafer of the University of Toronto.

Bringing God into the picture

About two out of three Americans report having someone close to them who prays of their behalf, according to the 2006 Portraits of American Life Study.

Adults who receive such prayer were significantly more likely to be optimistic about the future, Schafer found in his analysis of the study data. Having friends who are not family members pray for them was especially associated with high rates of optimism.

The study also gauged other aspects of social support such as giving help or providing advice or money, but only the act of being prayed for had a significant association with optimism. Schafer reported his findings in the current issue of the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.

Schafer said in an interview he was a bit surprised to also find being prayed for appeared to benefit people across a spectrum of beliefs.

“Even people that aren’t religious … they still appeared to have benefited from that type of support from their friends,” he said. “Perhaps, in their mind, it doesn’t hurt to have that extra little bit of support.”

Other studies also have found positive outcomes for intercessory prayer.

In three studies focusing on young adults, praying for a romantic partner was associated with more satisfying relationships and a greater sense of commitment. Researchers from Florida State University and the University of Georgia reported the results in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology.

Among older adults, two waves of a national survey in 2005 and 2007 showed that the negative effect on depressive symptoms of living in a dilapidated neighborhood was significantly reduced for older people who believed others often pray for them.

“The findings indicate that this uniquely religious form of helping behavior makes it easier for older people to cope with the problems they face,” researcher Neal Krause of the University of Michigan wrote in an article in the Review of Religious Research.

Divine care

Not everyone is enamored of the phrase, “My thoughts and prayers are with you.” It is interpreted by some as a cliché that can be devoid of sincerity and substance.

But for a large number of Americans those are the first words that come to mind in offering comfort to others. And many religious individuals consider it a positive, meaningful response to the suffering of people across the street or throughout the world.

“I am close to the families of all who died in the Oklahoma tornado, especially those who lost young children. Join me in praying for them,” Pope Francis recently tweeted.

What makes prayer unique – the appeal to a transcendent higher power – also provides a special source of hope to many individuals, observers say.

Consider that more than three-quarters of respondents to the 2007 Baylor Religion Survey believe God is concerned with their personal well-being.

‘“Bringing God’ into social support likely fosters optimism for the recipient because of the widespread belief that God is capable of fixing problems and able to actually produce a better tomorrow,” Schafer notes.

Letting people know you are praying for them may be considered trite, or even insensitive in some circles. For many Americans, however, it appears the more divine attention that comes their way in times of hardship, the better.

The recession, the rising financial independence of women and cultural shifts and technological advances that make single-parent families more acceptable and feasible are contributing to fewer people walking down the aisle.

Religious groups are not immune to these trends, but new research indicates faith is a powerful force slowing the decline.

Regular church attenders marry at higher rates, divorce at lower rates, are less likely to engage in extramarital sex and have more children than the general population, one new study found.

And highly religious individuals are most likely to hold up traditional models of marriage despite the financial costs involved, including the loss of income when one parent cares full time for children.

In a separate study, nearly half of married white women raising young children who attended religious services more than once a week were not employed. In contrast, just 29 percent of women with low to moderate levels of religious participation did not hold an outside job.

The two studies presented at the recent annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Religion, Economics and Culture provide insights into why people of faith are more willing to pay the high costs of marriage and raising families even in an economic downturn.

“Religious incentives play a central role in marriage decisions and should play a role in any economic model of marriage,” researcher Brian Hollar of Marymount University said in his presentation, “Holy matrimony, Batman! Why do the devout pay so much for marriage?”

The marriage benefit

There are unhappy and abusive unions, but research has indicated numerous benefits associated with married life. Married people, in general, live longer, are happier, have better mental health and are less likely to suffer from long-term illnesses or disabilities, studies have found.

Religious communities also may serve to “sanctify” marriages, endowing them with transcendent significance that can encourage couples to see their relationship in a favorable light, said researchers Frank Fincham of Florida State University and Steven Beach of the University of Georgia.

“Likewise, spiritual activities such as prayer may encourage greater focus on sustaining relationships and so increase positive behaviors in the relationship or enhance forgiveness or commitment,” they wrote in an article reviewing research on marriage in the Journal of Marriage and Family.

But these benefits may also come at an economic price.

From 2000-2010, white, married fathers ages 25 to 54 who attended church at least two to three times a month earned on average $50,900, or almost $20,000 a year more than similarly devout single men ages 25 to 54, Hollar of Marymount University found in his study using data from the General Social Survey.

However, devout married white women earned $27,100 a year during the same period, or $7,000 a year less than single women who frequently attended services.

In fact, high levels of religious participation may be associated with the enduring gender gap in wages, suggests a separate study of white married women with young children that uses data from the 2006 to 2010 National Survey of Family Growth.

Forty-eight percent of women who attended services more than weekly and 39 percent of women who attended services weekly were not employed, reported economists Evelyn L. Lehrer and Yu Chen of the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The study also found religious attitudes emphasizing traditional gender roles in raising families influenced labor market choices. Forty-three percent of married mothers from conservative Protestant denominations were not employed, compared to 28 percent of mothers from mainline Protestant denominations.

Yet, weighed against the religious capital accrued through their faith, it is a sacrifice many Americans are willing to make.

Paying the price

In examining General Social Survey data from 1972 to 2010, Hollar found decreasing rates of marriage across the board, but “a much more rapid drop-off” among those with lower ties to religion.

At any given age, Hollar found, “devout men are approximately 9.4 percent more likely to have married than non-devout men, and devout women are approximately 4.4 percent more likely to have married than non-devout women.”

Similarly, frequent church attenders were much less likely to divorce, Hollar reported.

“Religion has a very positive effect on family. It has a very positive effect on strengthening marriage and reducing the possibility of divorce,” Hollar noted.

And the sense of satisfaction is not just in the United States.

A study of adults in Great Britain, the Netherlands, Spain, Northern Ireland and Sweden found religious affiliation, religious attendance and marriage were all associated with greater happiness and satisfaction in life.

“Taken together, these three conclusions provide support among the people of contemporary Europe for Durkheim’s classic thesis linking the two institutions of marriage and religion with human flourishing,” researchers Emyr Williams, Leslie Francis and Andrew Village wrote in the journal of Mental Health, Religion and Culture.

That does not mean the pressures on marriage are going away. The wider array of choices available to women as their incomes rise and continued economic uncertainty among young adults, along with the greater acceptance of alternatives such as cohabitation and single-parent families, are having a significant impact.

But the potential financial costs or benefits are not all that matters in why people decide to get and stay married. Religious beliefs, including the idea of being part of a divinely ordained union, also can make a major difference.

But in looking at the religious engines of economic growth, new research indicates it may be just as helpful to talk about an Islamic ethic or a Jewish ethic or a Buddhist ethic.

A study using World Values Survey data from several dozen nations showed few differences among religious groups in each country on a variety of attitudes from trust and tolerance of others to an embrace of competition.

Catholics, for example, were no different from Protestants in saying that competition stimulates working hard and developing new ideas. And Buddhists were the biggest supporters of teaching children about thrift. Economist Charles North of Baylor University presented the findings at the recent annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Religion, Economics and Culture.

In a separate study of U.S. entrepreneurs, researchers at Baylor University found there was little difference among economic risk-takers in terms of religious affiliation and attendance.

Where entrepreneurs did differ was in their greater likelihood to pray more often and to believe in a personal God.

When times get tough, and they often do among the long hours and high failure rates experienced by many starting new businesses, many entrepreneurs may find themselves strengthened by the belief “God is with them and interested in them and attends to their needs,” Baylor sociologist Kevin Dougherty said.

Market faith

The German sociologist Max Weber, author of “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism,” advanced the idea in the beginning of the 20th century that Protestants placed a particular value on economic success because it was seen as a sign of God’s favor.

But if there ever were a Protestant ethic that promoted economic growth, today no one faith tradition appears to have a monopoly on entrepreneurship or a belief in the value of hard work, thrift and competition.

“I don’t think the Protestant ethic is real,” North said in an interview.

North and Elizabeth Dratz of Ataturk University used five waves of the World Values Survey to conduct their research. What surprised North was how little they found of significance regarding differences in economic attitudes among religious groups in nations all over the world.

The work is preliminary, North emphasized, but the consistent findings indicate a lack of a strong correlation between one religious group and attitudes that promote growth.

In particular, the research challenges some who have viewed Islamic beliefs as opposed to economic growth. He and Dratz found Muslims compared favorably to other religious groups on all measures of trust, tolerance, confidence in government institutions and beliefs about competition and thrift.

Mixed messages

So what religious factors do distinguish the entrepreneurs who are the leaders in innovation and driving engines of a robust economy?

In the U.S., individuals who have started or were starting a new business reported they were more likely to believe in a God who personally cares for them and to pray and meditate more frequently than non-entrepreneurs, according to a study using data from the 2010 Baylor Religion Survey.

“For entrepreneurs, business ventures may provide a ready list of concerns voiced to a God they believe is listening,” Baylor researchers Kevin Dougherty, Mitchell Neubert, and Jenna Griebel and Jerry Park reported. Their findings, “A Religious Profile of American Entrepreneurs,” will be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.

Baylor researchers also found entrepreneurs were 1.6 times more likely to attend congregations that encourage starting a business or making a profit in business.

But outside of African-American churches, where congregational leaders have emphasized economic development as a necessary route to economic equality, few U.S. churches promote starting profit-making enterprises.

In the 2010 Baylor Religion Survey, just 15 percent of respondents said their place of worship encourages starting a business and less than one in five said their congregation encourages participants to make a profit.

Dougherty said this may be due to uneasiness with economic matters in institutions that emphasize putting others first and living lives of humility and poverty.

But since economic growth is often associated with advances in living standards, health care and reduced civil conflict, and entrepreneurs are attracted to sanctuaries that encourage them in their work, the study findings also raise the question of whether more congregations should address issues of economic development, some observers said.

What the research does suggest is that the relation between religion and economic growth is no longer the dominion of one tradition.

How Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Protestants, Catholics and others address these issues can make a difference in the U.S. and global economies.

“It’s truly sports that has become like the religion” for many people, said Fichter, a researcher and the pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Haworth, N.J.

From youth travel teams to big-time national festivals such as the Final Four, sports have been making increasing inroads in the busy lives of many Americans. Some scholars even trace the evolution of sports from pastime to a form of civil religion to now having become almost a folk religion.

And it is having an impact on religious groups, which report increasing difficulty convincing families that are willing to spend half a day traveling to a 9-year-old’s softball or soccer game to make time for worship services.

Some congregations are meeting the challenge by offering alternative service times and their own sports teams and programs. But many despair of their ability to compete in a culture increasingly consumed by athletics, with its multi-million dollar idols and its own sacred relics. Witness the Babe Ruth jersey that sold last year for $4.4 million.

In a study of 16 declining congregations in the U.S. and Canada, the reason most cited by clergy and members for falling attendance was the secularization of Sunday, with many identifying children’s sports as most responsible. Researcher Stephen McMullin of Acadia Divinity College in Nova Scotia reported the findings in the current issue of the Review of Religious Research.

“(Parents) will make sure Johnny goes to sports, but when it comes to church, I’ve just seen it over and over again, and even in our own congregation, the families that have children in sport will sacrifice church for the sake of their son or daughter’s sports program, so sports is another huge reason why our church is declining,” one pastor said.

A sporting life

There were few Easter Christians, individuals who show up for worship one or two days a year, among the earliest followers of the faith.

Facing penalties “like hanging — that tends to clear the head,” the Rev. Aidan Kavanagh, the late liturgy professor at Yale Divinity School, dryly observed.

Christians in the United States no longer need fear persecution for missing services. Demanding schedules, many of which revolve around youth sports, are the new competition for congregations.

Fichter surveyed 341 Catholics in one congregation who reported attending only on Easter and Christmas. He said he thought many people would cite disagreement with church teachings or negative experiences. But only 7 percent of respondents gave either of those reasons.

More than two-thirds said the reason they attend only twice a year was that they were too busy with other commitments. Sixteen percent admitted they were lazy. Fichter reported the findings at the joint annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion and the Religious Research Association.

The 2008 Faith Communities Today survey looked at obstacles to regular participation in church, including driving distance, fear of crime and work schedule conflicts. But school- and sports-related activities — true for urban, suburban and rural congregations – were the biggest challenges. More than a third of congregations said it was somewhat or quite a bit of an issue.

The scope of the problem seemed to overwhelm many of the 16 declining congregations in McMullin’s study.

“In focus group after focus group, members considered how they might make changes that would attract new people and invariably concluded that nothing could be done,” he wrote in the Review of Religious Research.

Congregations that blame their own ills on society and parents who miss church for organized sports had another negative outcome: Families whose children are involved in sports stop attending, McMullin said.

But other congregations are meeting the challenge in new ways.

If you can’t beat ‘em …

One response has been to add services at alternative times such as Saturday and Sunday evenings to provide more opportunities for parents and children to attend both sporting events and church.

What also has seemed to be helpful is for churches to offer their own sports programming.

Research has shown congregations that offer multiple opportunities for members to participate in church life are more likely to experience growth.
Offering sports programs “is a point of entry,” said David Roozen, director of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research. “Often the biggest competition is for young families with kids.”

Some 36 percent of congregations in the 2010 Faith Communities Today survey, including more than four in 10 evangelical Protestant congregations, reported at least some emphasis on team sports, fitness activities and exercise classes.

“Evangelicals are much more aware that they really have a competing worldview with the secular world,” Roozen said.

And the combination seems to have its benefits. More than two-thirds of congregations who said sports and fitness programs were a specialty of the congregation reported more than a 10 percent growth in attendance from 2000 to 2010. In contrast, only a third of churches with no athletic programs reported such growth.

Survive and advance is one mantra of teams in the NCAA basketball tournament culminating in the Final Four. One idea for churches struggling in a sports-obsessed culture may be a similar strategy: Adapt and advance.

Maybe a caveat should be added before saying this line from The Lord’s Prayer, asking a second round of forgiveness for failing to meet divine standards.

Many religious people count on God’s forgiveness, but it is far more difficult to put aside human feelings of bitterness and resentment to pardon others.

New research, however, shows the two spiritual goals are related. Individuals who believe that a loving God forgives them are far more likely to turn around and absolve others, several studies indicate.

In one study, for example, older people who felt they were forgiven by God were approximately two and a half times more likely to feel that transgressors should be forgiven unconditionally than older people who did not feel they were forgiven by God.

Trust in God’s forgiveness, studies find, also may make it more likely for individuals to forgive themselves, a process that seems to make it easier to extend mercy to others.

Accepting God’s forgiveness and pardoning others also is associated with substantial health benefits as anger, fear, shame and guilt over the sins of others and personal transgressions dissipate, research indicates.

Among the takeaways for religious leaders and people in the pews are that an active faith appears to promote forgiveness. And how human beings perceive God say, as a loving father who forgives them unconditionally or a distant sovereign who judges them — makes a difference in the way they treat friends, co-workers, relatives and neighbors.

“The kind of God we teach about matters,” researcher Daniel Escher of the University of Notre Dame says.

The road to forgiveness

Forgiveness is a deeply personal issue, and no one standard can be applied to individual situations. Many people find forgiving others lifts heavy burdens of anger and resentment from their hearts. Some, such as victims of domestic violence or sexual abuse, find forgiveness offered too quickly or easily may seem hollow. It could also be potentially harmful if it prevents them from acknowledging their own suffering and makes them less able to distance and protect themselves from transgressors.

In general, however, forgiveness is linked to better mental and physical health. Research has shown people who scored high on forgiveness scales had significantly lower levels of blood pressure, anxiety and depression, and relatively high self-esteem and life satisfaction.

An emerging body of research also offers insights into the religious beliefs and behaviors associated with the ability to forgive others and oneself.

Individuals who have a personal relationship with God, believe God forgives them and carry religious beliefs into their relationships and dealings with others are far more likely to forgive others and to forgive themselves, Escher found in a study using data from the 1998 General Social Survey.

Frequent prayer and religious service attendance also each have a large positive relationship with self- and interpersonal forgiveness, Escher reported. The study further pointed to long-term effects of religious practice, with those affiliated with a religious tradition since age 16 showing a greater likelihood to be forgiving.

“What seems to matter in promoting forgiveness … is that a person adheres to a religion or a denomination; on the whole, the religiously unaffiliated have less of a propensity to forgive,” he writes in the current issue of the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.

Obstacles to forgiveness

Not all beliefs and practices lead to forgiveness.

Older adults who believe they are forgiven by God are more likely to forgive others right away than are older people who do not believe God has forgiven them for their own transgressions, researchers found using data from a 2001 study of more than 1,100 people.

Those study findings also indicated setting conditions on forgiveness, such as requiring acts of contrition, was associated with greater psychological distress. Researchers Neal Krause of the University of Michigan and Christopher Ellison of the University of Texas at San Antonio reported their findings in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.

“Those that forgive unconditionally are the ones that seem to have better mental health,” Krause said in an interview. “You get the hurt behind you.”

How people are treated at church – whether their fellow worshipers model compassion or judgment – also seems to make a difference. In a separate study of older adults reported in the Review of Religious Research, Krause found results suggesting participants who were more satisfied with the emotional support they received from church members were more likely to forgive themselves than those who were not satisfied with the support they received.

Overall, the research seems to support the effectiveness of efforts to promote forgiveness. Attend a typical service and you are likely to hear prayers and sermons and experience rituals urging people to confess their sins and offer forgiveness to others.

But some researchers also note what worshipers are less likely to hear is encouragement to accept divine forgiveness for their own transgressions.

Religious leaders may want to consider ways to incorporate rituals encouraging individuals to accept forgiveness of their own sins into more aspects of services, Escher said.

Perhaps even a prayer that goes something like: Forgive your neighbor as yourself.

In the U.S., think of Oral Roberts or Bishop T.D. Jakes.

So it is with a sense of anticipation that many Catholics, who experienced the megastar papacy of John Paul II, are hopeful that the church leaders meeting to select a successor to Benedict XVI can find an evangelist-in-chief to compete in the global marketplace.

One way to ignite international interest in the billion-member institution would be to choose someone from Latin America or Africa, where more than half of the world’s Catholics now reside. This, some observers say, would not only be a significant affirmation of the global nature of the church, but could help stem defections to Pentecostal congregations in those southern regions.

But what may matter more than the nationality of the next pope, according to some scholars, is his commitment to allowing the growth of lay leadership and culturally sensitive worship that is at the heart of the success of the Pentecostal movement.

“A new pope would do well to officially sanction some of this, rather than resist it,” said Donald Miller, the series editor of “Global Pentecostalism and Charismatic Christianity” and the executive director of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California.

Dynamic marketplace

The Pentecostal-charismatic movement emphasizes enthusiastic worship and the ability of individuals to discern God’s will through a personal connection with the Holy Spirit. The connection can manifest itself in New Testament practices such as healing prayer.

The movement began humbly with the teachings of Charles Fox Parham in Topeka, Kansas, in the beginning of the 20th century, followed in a few years by the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles. But in the past century, Pentecostal-charismatic movements grew at nearly four times the rate of both Christianity and the global population, expanding from 1.2 million in 1910 to 584 million in 2010, according to the World Christian Database.

The movements are multifaceted, ranging from traditional Pentecostal denominations such as the Assemblies of God and the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel to independent churches to charismatic movements within older denominations, including the Catholic Church. There were an estimated 177 million Catholic charismatics in 2010, according to the World Christian Database.

To be sure, the Catholic Church, despite losses in much of Europe, is still experiencing dramatic global growth, particularly in Latin America and Africa. From 1990 to 2000, the Catholic Church added an average of nearly 13 million members a year, and by some estimates it is expected to grow to more than 1.5 billion members by the middle of the century, according to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

But this is a slower rate than the growth of renewalist movements, which are expected by some to go from a quarter to a third of the world’s Christian population as the Catholic Church holds on to about half of Christianity.

From 1990 to 2000, for example, the Catholic Church lost an estimated 355,000 adherents a year after adding up converts to and from the church. In contrast, Pentecostal-charismatic churches gained 2.8 million adherents a year through conversions, according to the World Christian Database.

In Brazil, which has the world’s largest Catholic population, thousands of Catholics move into evangelical Protestant churches every week, said Todd Johnson, director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity.

An uncertain future

Catholics have considerable strengths – from a strong tradition and presence in many nations to well-organized networks of schools, hospitals and seminaries. And the church in Latin America and Africa has been in many ways supportive of charismatic practices within worship.

But a hierarchical church with a priest shortage also faces significant challenges competing with Pentecostal and charismatic movements led by local leaders who provide an environment that is sometimes compared to a large extended family, observers say.

Pentecostalism can bring order, stability and hope, particularly for individuals living in poverty or who are part of an urban migration cut off from their rural roots, Miller and Tetsunao Yamamori note in their book “Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement.” The emphasis on the value of personal spiritual experiences and what generally are the greater opportunities to serve than in a Catholic church also develop commitment and a sense of self-worth.

The next Catholic pope may want to consider the importance of increasingly legitimizing the role of all people in the congregation, promoting practices such as healing prayer and integrating culturally meaningful music and forms of worship within congregations, scholars say.

Todd Johnson, director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity, said the training of local Catholics is critical both to evangelization and to address concerns that worship not veer from church teaching into areas such as advocating a prosperity gospel equating faith with health and wealth.

The Catholic Church’s “hope of spreading is through the development of lay leadership,” he said.

Miller agrees.

“There’s no way the ratio of priests to people can ever start to accommodate the needs of people” in the same way house fellowships and cell churches are able to in their intimate settings, he said.

The religious community needs to be more rooted in the actual experiences of the people, “which is of course the major insight of Pentecostalism,” Miller added.

Of course, it also would not hurt to have a pope from Argentina or Nigeria, particularly if that individual could combine the compelling spirituality of Pope John Paul II with the special inspiration he brought to many from his native Poland and throughout Eastern Europe.

Many Latin American Catholics consider themselves “the soul of Catholicism,” and electing a pope from the region would be seen as “a very powerful symbolic statement that they’re accepted and they’re recognized,” said Arlene Sanchez-Walsh, an associate professor of Latino church studies at Azusa Pacific University.

In a world with tens of thousands of Christian denominations, the media advantages of having one spiritual leader for half of the Christians on the globe are enormous. No one gets more face time on any media.

After nearly eight years of what many observers have characterized as a “caretaker” papacy, the choice the cardinals make this month will have far-reaching consequences for Christianity’s most dynamic landscape – the Global South.

How tough have times become?

In one startling example, Benedict XVI became the first pope to resign in six centuries. He declared both strength of mind and body are necessary to oversee the church “in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith.”

Yet there are also more hopeful trends about the health and mission of houses of worship.

The latest wave of the U.S. Congregational Life Survey, now available for download and exploration on the Association of Religion Data Archives, provides stark evidence of the aging and shrinking of many congregations. Just a quarter of worshipers in the 2008-2009 survey reported a sense of excitement about the congregation’s future, down from a third of respondents excited about the future of their house of worship in 2001.

But the survey also shares what some may find surprising elements of growth and ongoing strengths in congregations. The U.S. Congregational Life Survey is the largest sampling of worshipers in America, with a total of more than half a million worshipers in more than 5,000 congregations participating in at least one of the two waves.

Here are five hopeful signs for U.S. congregations:

More caring ministries: Congregations and their members are more active outside the sanctuary walls. In the latest survey, 18 percent of worshippers said wider community care and advocacy were one of the three most valued aspects of the congregation; in 2001, just 11 percent ranked community care in the top three. Worshippers in 2008-2009 also were significantly more likely to report that they were involved in social service or advocacy groups outside the congregation and contributed money to a charitable group other than the church.

Climbing the academic ladder: The percentage of worshipers with a college degree rose from 38 percent in 2001 to 47 percent in the latest survey. “In the past, the pastor was often the most educated person in the room – but not any more.” researcher Cynthia Woolever says. And that matters. “These highly educated worshipers have high expectations about the content/style of worship, how decisions are made, and the efficiency of congregational ‘achievement,’” she adds.

Keeping up with the technological times: The 2008-2009 survey found more than three-quarters of congregations had established websites, up from 43 percent in 2001. In addition to keeping members informed of upcoming events, more than half of the sites post sermons and list opportunities for service. Seventy-four percent of congregations also use e-mail in ways that range from publicizing events to sharing joys and concerns of churchgoers and sending out devotional messages.

More diverse leadership: You just have to look around in many churches to notice a gender imbalance. Still, survey researchers say the consistent finding that six in 10 worshipers are women remains one of their most asked-about results. What is growing, however, is the diversity of leadership in mainline Protestant churches, where 28 percent of pastors are women, up from 20 percent in 2001. New research using survey data also finds female pastors are in general more satisfied in their ministry than male pastors and are strong in welcoming new people. Almost two in five pastors of growing churches are women.

Happy people in the pews: Eighty-seven percent of worshipers in the latest survey said they were satisfied with their spiritual life, up from 82 percent who expressed satisfaction in the 2001 survey. More than three in four worshippers say they always or usually experience a sense of God’s presence, inspiration and joy in worship. Nearly nine in 10 respondents said worship helps them with everyday living.

Of course, some analysts would say the high rate of satisfaction in many congregations that are aging and shrinking may also indicate an unwillingness to change to welcome younger generations and new neighbors into the fold.

But that is a column for another day.

For starters, sociologist Arthur Farnsley writes in his new book “Flea Market Jesus,” it is a political mistake of biblical proportions to write off all Christian fundamentalists as red-state, moral values Republicans.

In in-depth interviews, Farnsley found among this fiercely independent group on the fringes of evangelical Protestantism an adherence to rugged individualism and distrust of institutions that left them open to differing opinions as to whether there should be restrictions on abortion or same-sex marriage.

But there was one issue where their religious and social beliefs came together: Gun control.

“The old bumper-sticker line, reinvigorated by former NRA President Charlton Heston, comes easily from the mouths of flea market dealers: ‘They’ll get my guns when they pry them from my cold, dead fingers,’” Farnsley writes.

The finding illustrates some of the challenges gun-control advocates face even as President Obama vows to make it a priority in his second term. The public outrage over the Newtown school shooting does not appear to have changed many minds among evangelical Protestants who have strongly opposed stricter laws.

In the short term, despite all the renewed debate, including calls for action from many religious leaders, some analysts say it is unlikely that there will be major changes in legislation.

“The odds are somewhere between slim and none,” says political scientist Ted Jelen of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, author of “The Political Mobilization of Religious Beliefs.”

But over the long term, several factors, from increasing migration to cities to changing attitudes among young evangelicals and the growth of Hispanic Catholics, indicate major changes may be coming.

Gun culture

A major reason Protestants are more likely to be gun owners and less supportive of restrictions on firearms is that they are more likely to have rural roots, and to live in areas of the country, such as the South, where owning a gun is part of the culture.

However, analysts also point to theological differences that reinforce an emphasis on individual rights. Many Protestants have a more personal orientation to faith, where the relationship to God and salvation is more one-on-one as opposed to being expressed in community.

“The individualistic orientation that emanated from the American frontier was strongly reinforced and perpetuated by religious fundamentalism long after the frontier period” sociologist Robert Young said in a 1989 article on “The Protestant Heritage and the Spirit of Gun Ownership” in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.

Move forward nearly a quarter-century and Farnsley found among the independent Protestants he studied the idea that having a pistol in the sock drawer or a shotgun under the bed is a line in the sand: “They can’t make you do what you don’t want to do, at the very bottom, because you are armed.”

The religious differences show up in research. Consider these findings:

• Twenty-seven percent of evangelical Protestants, compared to 16 percent of mainline Protestants, 14 percent of black Protestants and 12 percent of Catholics, strongly opposed having the federal government enact stricter gun laws, according to the 2007 Baylor Religion Survey.
• In a 2010 Pew Research Center survey, two-thirds of white, non-Hispanic evangelical Protestants and 56 percent of white, non-Hispanic mainline Protestants said it was more important to protect the rights of Americans to own guns than to control gun ownership. Just 36 percent of Catholics overall, but 47 percent of white, non-Hispanic Catholics, said protecting the right to own guns was more important.
• Six in ten Catholics and religiously unaffiliated Americans favored stricter gun control laws in an August 2012 poll conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute. Just 35 percent of white evangelical Protestants favored stricter laws. In a January poll taken after the Newtown shooting, 67 percent of Catholics, but 38 percent of white evangelical Protestants supported stricter gun control laws.

Obama may not be successful in getting this Congress to require universal background checks for gun buyers, impose a ban on military-style assault weapons and limit the size of ammunition magazines. But there are signs the future may hold more promise for gun control measures.

Disappearing frontier

For one, the increasing migration to the cities and suburbs is not only diluting the traditional strongholds of the gun culture, but is exposing individuals to more densely packed, diverse communities where gun violence is seen as more of a social problem than an issue of individual rights.

“In urban areas, at close quarters, guns may offer protection, but they also represent danger, fear and violence,” Farnsley writes. “Restrictions will proliferate and grow over the coming decades.”

Jelen and Farnsley also note that a younger generation of evangelicals is increasingly asking whether certain gun control measures, just like some environmental protections, are an expression of Christian stewardship.

In addition, many devout Catholics, and a growing number of Hispanic Catholics in particular, also are attracted to church social teaching about concern for the public good in regulating weapons, Jelen says.

It is not going to be easy given the powerful cultural and lobbying forces opposing gun control. But religious groups may have to play a major role in changing America’s gun culture.

Jelen says religious groups may be the only organizations with the intellectual and moral resources to lead such a change in public policy.

“I’m not sure religious groups are up for that,” he adds, “but I’m pretty sure no one else is.”

A century-and-a-half later, as an African-American president is inaugurated for a second term, interracial unions still are relatively rare.

And faith groups may be part of the reason Americans still find it so difficult to transcend race and ethnicity in matters of the heart, new research indicates.

Believers played a major role in the civil rights movement, but the voluntary segregation still found in houses of worship on Sunday mornings appears to limit the likelihood non-Hispanic white Americans will date, much less marry, a black, Hispanic or Asian partner.

In one national study of dating practices, researchers found those who attended church most often were far less likely to have dated someone from another race.

And in a separate study of more than 12,000 people who were or had been married, only Catholics were significantly more likely than people from other traditions to cross significant racial or ethnic boundaries.

“Segregated churches breed segregated lives,” says researcher Samuel Perry of the University of Chicago.

Segregated pews

Churches are still one of the least likely places white, black, Asian and Hispanic Americans will encounter one another.

Pew’s 2007 American Religious Landscape Survey found non-Hispanic whites made up more than 9 in 10 members of mainline Protestant churches and more than 8 in 10 members of evangelical Protestant churches, while more than 9 in 10 members of historically black churches were non-Hispanic blacks. Nearly 3 in 10 Catholics were Hispanic, compared with just 3 percent of mainline Protestants.

Research finds that being in a church with few or no members of another race makes a difference in choosing romantic partners.

About half of people who attend church once a year or never said they had dated interracially; just 27 percent of respondents who attend weekly or more reported dating a person of another race, according to a study using data from the 2007 Baylor Religion Survey.

Those who attended multiracial churches, however, were more likely to have dated a person of another race, Perry reported at the recent annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion.

He reports similar findings regarding attitudes toward marriages in a forthcoming article on “Religion and whites’ attitudes toward interracial marriage with African-Americans, Asians and Latinos” in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. (There are differences of opinion over whether Hispanics should be classified as a racial or ethnic group. The U.S. Census Bureau is considering reclassifying Hispanic as a race rather than an ethnicity.)

It is more than just a matter of churchgoers having less contact with people of other races, according to Perry.

“Just as important, however, is the fact that religious communities develop cultural boundaries that define who is and is not ‘like us.’ Due to less interaction with mixed-race couples, attendees of more segregated congregations will likely have a narrower vision of what constitutes an ‘ideal’ romantic match than persons in integrated faith communities,” he writes.

Walking the walk

It is not religion in itself that is to blame, the research indicates.

People with no religious affiliation were not statistically more likely to be in intermarriages than evangelical or mainline Protestants or people from other religions, researchers from Baylor University reported at the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion meeting. Joshua Tom and Brandon Martinez analyzed data from more than 12,000 ever-married persons in the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth.

The only exceptions were Catholics. Catholics were almost twice as likely to be in an intermarriage and Catholics who attended services more frequently were slightly more likely to be in an intermarriage, the researchers found.

“The growing Hispanic population probably has a lot to do with it,” Tom said. Researchers said Catholics also are more likely to attend the nearest parish than choose a congregation from a larger area to be in a more homogenous group.

In his research, Perry found that whites who more frequently engage in devotional practices such as prayer and reading sacred texts were more likely to interracially date and to be more supportive of interracial marriage.

The relative lack of interracial romance among churchgoers in racially homogenous congregations is “far more about racial segregation” than an inherent defect in faith traditions. “I don’t find that at all. In fact, I find the reverse,” he said.

Perry’s advice to pastors seeking to promote a society where love transcends race includes considering devoting a Sunday or a couple of Sundays to talk about the evils of prejudice. And to ask their flocks: “Are you walking the walk” of building bridges that cross boundaries.

Reflecting on prejudice in our time may be pretty good advice in general.

There is a tendency in watching movies such as “Lincoln” to look back at historical struggles against evil with a sense of moral superiority. In this awards season, as honors are heaped upon the movie depicting the politicking necessary in the 19th century to produce social change, it may be helpful to consider how far we still have to travel on the journey to equality.

Explore articles and data on interracial congregations and relationships.

Spending quality time with God appears to make benevolent love possible for many Americans, new research indicates.

We may be biologically hard-wired to worship at the altars of consumerism this holiday season, buying gifts with expectations of what we will receive in return, but those people who say they regularly experience the love of God are much more likely to reach out beyond family and friends to serve humanity, according to a national survey of more than 1,200 adults.

The Godly Love National Survey, led by researchers at the University of Akron and the Institute for Research on Unlimited Love, found people who most often reported feeling God’s love were more than twice as likely as the average American to give time to those in need more than once a week.

Would-be Grinches beware. Heeding Advent pleas to take time out for spiritual reflection also were associated with a better outlook on life. Individuals who reported experiencing God’s love more than once a day were far more likely to say they have a strong meaning and purpose in life and to both find “great joy” in helping others and to recognize the “great kindness” other people have shown to them.

Justice Holmes appears to have gotten it wrong in associating heavenly conversation with earthly neglect, according to sociologist Matthew Lee of the University of Akron, a study leader.

“Spending time with a loving God will refresh a person and make them more effective in dealing with the challenges they face, and the challenges of helping other people,” he said.

Roots of compassion

Not everyone is going to be a Mother Teresa or a Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Lee, Margaret Poloma and Stephen G. Post say in their new book, “The Heart of Religion.” The book shares the findings of the 2009 Godly Love National Survey, along with related research including interviews with more than 100 people of faith they considered exemplars of service to others.

But a lot of people are trying hard to find the spiritual strength to serve others, the authors said. Their research, funded by The John Templeton Foundation, showed that there are tens of millions of Americans who say they experience God’s love regularly, and for many that experiences leads to acts of compassion and service.

More than four in five respondents said they experience God’s love at least “once in a while;” a similar number said they felt God’s love increasing their compassion for others.

The more frequently individuals said they experienced God’s love, the more they appeared to embrace the need to give to others beyond their immediate circle of friends and family.

Consider these findings:
• Three-quarters of respondents said they gave their time to help others. That percentage rose to 93 percent among people who said they experienced God’s love more than once a day, but fell to 62 percent among people who said they did not directly experience God’s love. Those with high experiences of divine love were also the most faithful volunteers, with 41 percent giving time more than once a week, compared with 20 percent of others in the survey.
• Eighty-four percent of the people who most frequently experienced God’s love reported giving money to help others, compared with 58 percent of those who did not have such experiences. Overall, 73 percent reported giving money.
• When asked whether all people share an unbreakable bond of humanity, a strong predictor of benevolence, a third of people who experience God’s love often strongly agreed, compared with 17 percent of the total sample and 14 percent of those who did not experience such love.

Heart of Religion

Talking to God is not always easy.

One of the exemplars in “The Heart of Religion” was a man named Alex, who, following the biblical parable of the Good Samaritan, took a drug addict into his home. The addict raped his 4-year-old daughter, who suffered from night terrors so severe her screaming woke the family every night for a year.

The long dialogues with God that followed, Alex said, gave him a sense that a divine power was beside he and his daughter in their time of suffering. As he prayed for understanding, Alex also said he perceived God asking him in turn, “Will you still love the poor?”

The divine love survey found that the 30 percent of respondents who said they felt anger toward God at least occasionally were also among those most likely to report frequently experiencing the love of God.

Yet it is this deeper experience of God’s love — in a prayer life that enables participants to engage in an intimate conversation that permits anger and questioning — that seems to enable many people to cope not only with their own suffering, but to be sensitized to the need to alleviate the pain of others, according to Lee, Poloma and Post.

“As you come to know the depths of God’s love, it’s easier to give that love away,” Poloma said the research revealed. “It’s certainly true of human love, but divine love seems to be able to transcend even the deficiencies of human love.”

Unconditional love does not appear to come naturally to human beings, Lee, Poloma and Post state. We take care of ourselves and those who are personally important to our lives; 99 percent of respondents to the Godly love survey said they do all they can to help their loved ones.

But when it comes to caring for all of humanity, or even struggling to understand events such as the senseless murders of children and teachers in an elementary school in Connecticut, something more is needed.

Developing spiritual practices that foster intimate experiences of divine love appears to be for many the gift that keeps on giving.