While the transition from Evangelical Christianity to Catholicism is certainly a large one with its share of concerns, one that has been on our minds is, how should I put this, the genuineness or seriousness of those that call themselves Catholic. I say this only as one who was on the other side of things where the stereotype is that Catholics are mostly a go-through-the-motions sort of a people. In joining the Church, then, this affects us in two ways - 1) When we say that we're Catholic, we are subjecting ourselves to the same stereotypes and 2) We weren't sure what sort of faith Rachel's peers would have.
I mention this because I've been reading through the Pew Research Center's in-depth look at the
millennial generation (those who are 18-29). In Chapter 9 of their
moderately lengthy pdf report, they discuss religious beliefs, and I was a little surprised by what I read.
For the entire population (not just my generation), only 41% of Catholics attended service weekly (and we're told specifically that it's an obligation), which is better than the 35% of Mainline Protestant Churches (MPC), but a far cry from the 58% and 59% of Evangelicals and Historically Black Protestant Churches (HBPC).
When it came to weekly scripture reading, it was Catholic - 21%, MPC - 27%, and Evangelicals and HBPC's at 60%. For daily prayer, Catholic - 58%, MPC - 53%, Evangelicals - 78%, and HBPC - 80%.
Finally, the respondents were asked if they considered religion to be very important, somewhat important, or not too important in their lives. The percentage of those who answered very important are: Catholic - 56%, MPC - 52%, Evangelicals - 79% and HBPC - 85%.
Just some food for thought...
