The American Religious Landscape: A Deep Dive Into the Data

Thursdays: May 25, June 8 and June 15, 2023 from 9:30 – 11:00 am CDT
In person at Christ Lutheran Church, 1 Selma Avenue, Webster Groves, MO

For zoom option, please note on registration form

The dynamics of congregational life and every level of denominational structures have undergone seismic shifts in recent years. Of this, we are all quite aware, but how do we respond? What knowledge-based information is available to help us to learn from the changing realities in our environments and to recalibrate faithfully in order for the church to carry out its
mission?

Lutheran School of Theology is pleased to present three in-person sessions with Dr. Ryan Burge, an assistant professor of political science at Eastern illinois University, who has done extensive analysis that has been deemed helpful in many church settings. Using several large datasets and simple, yet descriptive data visualizations, these classes will explain what has happened to American religion over the last five decades and why those shifts have occurred. One session will be specifically devoted to the contours and trajectory of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and another will focus on the spiritual lives of Millennials and Generation Z.

Dr. Burge has authored over thirty peer-reviewed articles and book chapters alongside four books about religion and politics in the United States. He written for the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. He has also appeared in an NBC Documentary, on Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, as well as on 60 Minutes which called him, “one of the country’s leading data
analysts on religion and politics.” He has served as a pastor in the American Baptist Church for over twenty years.