Smith publishes book on America’s growing religious disaffiliation

Brian Smith, professor emeritus of religion, recently published a book on the growing number of Americans who no longer identify with any religious tradition, often called the Nones.

The book titled “Reaching the Religiously Disaffiliated: Comparative Strategies to Engage the Nones” was published by Bloomsbury Academic Publishers.

In the book, Smith examines survey data to understand why more people are choosing to leave religious institutions or never join them at all.

“By 2022, Nones reached 27% of the population,” Smith said. “They constitute 31% of the millennials between 25 and 40, and 33% of the adults in Generation Z between 18 and 25. Their exodus has caused concern by religious leaders since the future viability of organized Christianity is at stake, given the large numbers of young Americans leaving religion.”

Smith also highlights a newer movement focused on connecting with younger Nones without trying to pull them back into churches. This initiative, called the Nuns & Nones movement, involves about 300 Catholic sisters (many retired) who have been affected by a decline in new members in their convents.

He analyzes various ways to engage the Nones, comparing methods used by large Evangelical megachurches, educational efforts by U.S. Catholic Bishops and activities in the Nuns & Nones movement, such as discussions, shared meals, meditations and communal living experiences between Catholic sisters and those who are religiously unaffiliated.

This approach is more about offering spiritual support rather than trying to convert or teach these individuals.

In the spring of 2018, Smith presented a paper on this movement at a meeting of the Midwest Association of the American Academy of Religion. This led to an invitation from Megan White, an acquisitions editor at Bloomsbury, to turn his paper into a book.

“I accepted the invitation and decided to do a book on comparing the Nuns & Nones method of accompanying the Nones in their spiritual journeys, where they are with more traditional methods of proselytization or evangelization of non-churched people by large denominations such as Evangelical megachurches and the Catholic Church to convert the Nones to Christianity,” Smith said.

He emphasized that most Nones have no interest in joining a church, leading him to believe that the Nuns & Nones movement may be creating new and effective ways to connect with them and build respectful relationships without trying to convert them.

Since retiring in July 2020 from Ripon, Smith has been working on this book. He said he thinks both scholars and practitioners of religion can profit from reading his book.

“I believe the book can make a contribution to conversations not only among scholars interested in learning more about the Nones and their criticisms of organized religion, but also to members of religious communities searching for more effective ways to engage Nones who are turned off by pressure tactics to get them to convert to Christianity,” Smith said.