In recent years, newly established churches today appear to have moved on from the traditional perception of what one might consider “church” , transitioning to more contemporary means of exercising religion. From building architecture progressing away from old fashioned sanctuaries to churches adopting non-denominational labels, we have seen a prominent shift in the style of religious practices. As younger generations introduce new labels and ways of expressing their religious identity, the usefulness of terms such as “Protestant” may yet become a thing of the past.
In 2019, Nationscape surveyed half a million people, giving respondents the option to identify as
Protestant, Catholic, Mormon, Orthodox, or Christian among other faiths. The survey showed that given the option to label themselves as “Protestant”, many Protestant church attendees did not, as younger demographics often selected “Christian” over “Protestant. The results can be seen as follows:
Among 20-year-olds, 22 percent indicated that they were Christians, while 8 percent considered themselves Protestants. Those at age 40, 25 percent, claimed to be Christian, 11 percent chose Protestant while those of age 55, people were just as likely to say Protestant as Christian.
Ethnicity can also be seen as a factor in the identification between Protestant and Christian. Among Americans ages 18 to 45, African Americans portray the highest tier of religiosity and identified as Christian over Protestant far greater compared to other ethnic groups with 38 percent of Black respondents claiming to be Christian to the 10 percent who identified themselves as Protestant.
Younger Hispanics are also nearly four times more prone to identify as Christian over being Protestant while the gap among White respondents tended to be smaller; (24% versus 11%) and those who identify as Asian (13% to 7%).
Adhering to a label-less connotations in religion appears to be the ongoing trend for times ahead which will steadily impact how Americans express their identity in the religious world.