IMPD will not go ahead with gunshot detection system
NEWS

Top 5 religious groups in Indiana now include those who chose 'none of the above'

Evangelicals, Catholics and Mainline Protestants are still prominent but so, too, are the "unaffiliated"

Robert King
robert.king@indystar.com
Historically Black Protestant churches account for 5 percent of the faithful across Indiana's religious landscape, according to the Pew Research Center.

Indiana isn’t as Roman Catholic as New England. It isn’t as evangelical as the Deep South. It isn’t as mainline Protestant as some other places in the Midwest.

Like so many other aspects of life in the Hoosier state, Indiana sits at a crossroads when it comes to faith. Yes, Hoosiers are overwhelmingly Christian. But under that tent the faithful are pretty evenly dispersed.

That lack of a dominant religious culture, says religious scholar Arthur Farnsley, is a key factor in the rise of another group on the faith spectrum: the unaffiliated.

With that in mind, here’s a look at the top five religious groups in Indiana as determined by the Pew Research Center’s 2014 Religious Landscape Study.

5. Historically Black Protestants (5%)

Think of black Baptist groups such as the National Baptists and the Missionary Baptists and also of Methodist groups like the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) and the AME Zion churches. The largest in Indianapolis is Eastern Star Church.

Historically Black Protestant churches account for 5 percent of the faithful across Indiana's religious landscape, according to the Pew Research Center.

Indiana churches are more integrated than they were 50 years ago, Farnsley said, but there’s still a tendency for black worshippers to congregate in black churches. Their slice of the faith pie in Indiana is small but so is Indiana’s black population, which is just under 10 percent.

Farnsley says historically black churches are, predictably, near the locus of the state’s black population – in Indianapolis and Gary, but also to a smaller degree in cities like New Albany and Evansville.

4. Mainline Protestants (16%)

Think United Methodists, Disciples of Christ, Presbyterians and Lutherans.

For the past 40 years, theirs has been a story of declining membership, though efforts are ongoing to turn that tide.

Mainline Protestants, in congregations as Second Presbyterian Church on the city's Northside, remain among the largest faith groups in Indiana.

Their focus on social justice and social policy began, in the 20th Century, to distinguish the mainlines from other Protestant groups.

Their hold on the levers of power – governor’s offices, mayoral seats — was once a given in Indiana. Today it’s more coincidental than anything else. Indianapolis Mayor-elect Joe Hogsett, for instance, is a United Methodist. Still, mainline Protestants hold a substantial place on the religious landscape.

3. Roman Catholic (18%)

Indiana is nowhere near as Catholic as states like New York or New Mexico, but Catholicism still has a strong presence here.

Historically, Catholicism arrived primarily with European immigrants in northwestern Indiana and also along the Ohio River – in towns across the water from Cincinnati and Louisville, said Farnsley. There were enclaves in places such as Jasper and Saint Meinrad. Indianapolis had its own share of Irish, Italian and other ethnic parishes.

Roman Catholics, once a church of European immigrants, are now sustaining their place in Indiana with a wave of new immigrants from Latin America.

Lately, the Catholic Church in Indiana has been buoyed by a new wave of immigrants from Latin America. That has enabled the Catholic Church in Indiana to counter the decline in whites of European descent that has so plagued the Mainline denominations, Farnsley said.

2. The Unaffiliated (26%)

This group has gotten the most publicity in recent years but also may be the most misunderstood. A majority of them have some belief in God, with atheists (3 percent) and agnostics (4 percent) comprising just a small piece of the puzzle.

What’s growing in the measurements by Pew and other groups are people who may or may not see religion as important but, regardless, don’t identify with any of the traditional faith groups.

The Unaffiliated, which includes atheists and agnostics but also people who simply don't belong to any group, are now the second largest group on the religious landscape in Indiana. In recent years, humanist groups put up billboards like this one in cities around the country, including Indianapolis, to promote understanding about those who don't believe.

Indiana’s share of the “unaffiliated” is higher than the national average (22.8 percent). Farnsley said that’s understandable. People who grew up Catholic or Jewish or Mormon are still likely to identify as such even if they’ve stopped attending religious services. It’s as much a cultural identity as a religious one. And in states where there’s a dominant faith (like Mormons in Utah or Catholics in Massachusetts) people are less likely to identify as none of the above.

But in a place like Indiana — where there’s no singularly dominant faith group — Farnsley said it may be easier for people to, in essence, not pick a side. “It used to be harder to say I don’t have a religion – I’m nothing in particular because it was a more important social badge,” Farnsley said. “It’s become a less important social badge.”

1. Evangelical Protestants (31%)

While evangelicals aren’t as dominant here as they are in the South, they still represent the largest segment of the faith spectrum in Indiana.

For perspective, Indiana has the same percentage of evangelicals as does Texas. Indiana has a higher percentage of evangelicals than any other Northern state. That’s due, Farnsley said, to the strong cultural connection to Appalachia that exists in the southern half of Indiana.

Evangelical Protestants make up the largest group on Indiana's religious landscape. Nondenominational megachurches, such as Northview Church in Carmel, have become an icon of the movement.

Southern Baptists – the largest denomination in the country – aren’t as influential here as in those southern states, but they are still part of the largest subgroup of evangelicals in Indiana: people from the various Baptist churches.

Next are the non-denominational evangelicals, whose suburban megachurches (think Northview Church in Carmel or the Community Church of Greenwood) have in many ways become the icon of the movement.

Also in the evangelical family are the Pentecostal and Holiness churches.

Evangelicals have the highest certainty about God’s existence of the top five groups. They are the most likely to see their faith as an important part of their lives, to attend religious services and to pray daily.

Call Star reporter Robert King at (317) 444-6089. Follow him on Twitter: @RbtKing.