Barna Group on Christians at Work

The Barna Group, in conjunction with Abilene Christian University, recently published a study on the current state of faith and work integration for US Christians – Christians at Work, the first in a ‘vocation project’.

They’ve made available some samples of the research:

Erasing the Sacred/Secular Divide

Though Christian workers more often associate religious and pastoral roles with being a ‘calling’ or serving the common good, it may not matter to most Christians whether they or someone else works in a ‘sacred’ or ‘secular’ space. In a new study, Barna asked whether it was better for a Christian to become a pastor or missionary, or to represent his or her faith well at work.

Balancing Career and Kids

As we continue our online series unpacking findings from Barna’s new study of vocation, we learn that men and women have an equal chance of feeling a sense of calling and fulfillment in their work – just not in every stage of life. In particular, working mothers face challenges when parenting and career mix.

The Church’s Role

A new Barna report on vocation shows that most Christians say they feel supported by their church when it comes to their career, claiming their local congregations help them understand how to live out their faith in the workplace.

What Faith Looks Like in the Workplace

In Barna’s recently released study on vocation, we found encouraging signs that Christians are living out their faith with integrity. In this release, we’ll look at the specific values and virtues that define today’s Christians’ work ethic.

‘Made to Flourish’ have posted two parts of an interview (here and here) with Barna president David Kinnaman on ‘the church and culture, discipleship, and how the church can navigate these conversations better in the future’.

Over at the Center for Faith + Work Los Angeles (also posted at ‘Made to Flourish’), Gage Arnold summarises ‘four takeaways’ from the survey, as follows:

1. Christians are doing away with sacred/secular language surrounding their work.

2. Christians are finding purposeful employment.

3. However, a majority are struggling to fully integrate their faith in their employment in a meaningful way.

4. Pastors are in a position to offer vocational guidance more than ever before.

Barna on Millennials and Work

There’s a brief report from Barna here on ‘When Millennials go to Work’.

It comes out of the US, and I’m never quite sure how it stacks up in the UK context, but I suspect there’ll be a fair amount of overlap.

Here are some sample paragraphs:

‘Although most Millennials agree their career is at least somewhat central to their identity, only a third say their career is very central. In fact, Boomers are more likely than Millennials to believe their career is central to who they are.

‘So what do Millennials deem most central to their identity? “Family” and “personal interests” are the top two categories. “Career” is actually one of the least likely categories to be named – the only category it beats is “technology.”

‘For [Christian] Millennials, “calling” is more than just about being called toward religious or ministry professions – they are thinking about whether they are “called” by God to their secular jobs as well. To be clear, most of them (69%) define “calling” not in a fixed, permanent way, but as something that can change over time as they age. This means they are likely thinking about whether they are called to their current work at this point in their lives, not for a lifetime.

‘A lifetime career trajectory is not an expectation for most Millennials; they anticipate changing jobs often and will likely do so in pursuit of work that better aligns with their passions. As Millennials become a larger and larger segment of the employee market, companies will need to shift policies and incentives to appeal to these desires. Training, mentorship, opportunities for independence and fluidity within roles will become important factors in employee retention.’

Talking Jesus

‘What do English adults know and believe about Jesus Christ? What do they really think of his followers? How often – if ever – do Christians talk about their faith in Jesus? How do both Christians and non-Christians feel about those conversations?’

A joint initiative by the Church of England, the Evangelical Alliance, and HOPE commissioned Barna Group and ComRes to conduct some research on those and similar questions, in order to investigate perceptions about Jesus, Christians and evangelism in England.

More information is available here, including a downloadable report here, and a short animated video here.

Barna on Millennials and the Bible

A recent survey of Millennials, conducted by Barna in partnership with American Bible Society and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, sought to explore how Millennials perceive and engage with the Bible.

The following three points emerged:

1. Practising Christian Millennials maintain a high view of Scripture.

2. Non-Christian Millennials hold ambivalent and sometimes extremely negative views about the Bible.

3. Millennials still prefer to engage the Bible in print.

See here for infographics and expansion of the points.

The research was conducted in the United States, so – even if it reflects life on the ground – some adjustment would be necessary for other contexts.