More Americans Reading the Bible

I'm still in my knee-deep-in-work period, but here's something to chew on. The entire article may be found here. Scroll down to the middle of it to find this information.

"Forty-seven percent of American adults read the Bible during a typical week other than when they are at church, according to a study by The Barna Group released in April.

Researchers found a significant increase in religious activity related to five of seven core religious behaviors, and Bible reading led the pack. Barna said only 31 percent of Americans were reading the Bible in 1995, but numbers started increasing in 2004.

Church attendance increased from 37 percent in 1996 to 47 percent in 2006, Barna said, and involvement in small, church-related groups has reached a new high of 23 percent this year. A decade ago only 17 percent of adults participated in small groups.

Church volunteerism increased to 27 percent while adult Sunday School attendance has risen to 24 percent from the 17 percent recorded in 1995, barn said.

Prayer and evangelism were the two categories that did not show a change over recent years. Eighty-four percent of Americans said they had prayed in the past week, and six out of 10 Christians claimed to have shared their faith during a given time span.

The study was based on random telephone interviews with 1,003 adults across the nation in January."

All of these statistics are surprising and worth acknowledging.