"Among those born in the 1990s and 2000s who left Christianity behind, only about a third identify as Democrats. These younger 'dechurchers' don’t look like political refugees; they simply stopped going—gradually, quietly, without it meaning much ideologically." #AheadOfTheTrend

Musical Instruments in American Churches Music has long been an important part of worship services in the United States.This learning module explores the ways in which Americans integrate musical instruments into their worship services.

Musical Instruments in American Churches

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Have you explored the ARDA's free Community Profile Builder? This resource assists church and community leaders in accessing free information about their communities, including social, economic, and religious data. Learn more at www.thearda.com/us-religion/....

The First Wave Left with Conviction. The Second Wave Just Drifted. Two-thirds of Americans indicate that their current religious tradition is the one in which they were raised. Read the latest installment of #AheadOfTheTrend, to see how mass secularization would eventually normalize religious exit.

The First Wave Left with Conviction. The Second Wave Just Drifted

Ahead of the Trend Article - Title: The First Wave Left with Conviction. The Second Wave Just Drifted ; Date: 2026-07-16

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It is a common assumption that older people are more religious than young people. Yet, there are multiple ways to measure religiosity, and individuals can be more religious in one way compared to another. This free learning module explores the relationship between age and religiosity.

Religion and Age

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The ARDA has compiled lists of relevant external resources for researchers, educators, journalists, and congregations to assist in their understanding of religion data. Explore our collection and let us know what other resources we should add! Reference Links: www.thearda.com/about/refere...

Reference Links | About

Reference Links to Sites Related to the ARDA, grouped for Researchers, Educators, Journalists and Congregations

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If one spends any time in religious corners of social media, it seems that devoutly religious people have become strident and often belligerent. Data strongly rejects that notion. Among Catholics, there is more willingness to reject the Church’s teachings on a number of controversial topics.

Methods for Exploring Religion | Free College Module This activity introduces common research methods used for collecting data as well as tools from the ARDA designed to help students and researchers better understand it.

Methods for Exploring Religion

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Excited to have this article out in the world. Hopefully our framework helps scholars name and study more of what’s happening in contemporary US religion.

Daniel Winchester@bishopofwestsaxons.bsky.social · 4w ago

IT'S ALIVE! Brainstorming, discussing, writing, and re-writing this piece on the "unbundling" of American religion with @ruthbraunstein.bsky.social, @jlkucinskas.bsky.social, and @bsteens.bsky.social was the most enjoyable part of the process, but it's gratifying to see it officially "out" in ASR.

As the fall semester approaches don't forget about our Teaching Resource Library! We support scholarly teaching, and learning with access to these free resources from many types of scholars. Explore resources or submit a resource to help grow our library! raac.indianapolis.iu.edu/resources/

Explore the most significant events and people in the history of American religion. The ARDA’s Timelines of American Religion place a wealth of information—including text, pictures, graphs and more—at your fingertips and within historical context.

Interactive Display | Timelines | US Religion

Interactive Historical Timelines of US Religion With Details On People, Events and Movements

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The ARDA team often hears from ministry leaders and community organizers on the impact of the Community Profile Builder. We recently interviewed two Indianapolis-based leaders who use the resource to understand the neighborhoods in which they live and serve. Read the full article:

Context for Community Engagement: ARDA’s Community Profile Builder

Ahead of the Trend Article - Title: Context for Community Engagement: ARDA’s Community Profile Builder ; Date: 2026-06-30

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Latest insights from #AheadOfTheTrend: "Among Catholics, even the ones who go to Mass every week, they seem more willing to reject the Church’s teachings on a number of controversial topics. And they are not willing to cut people off from the Catholic Church." Read more in the pinned comment.

Is the United States a Christian Nation? Various politicians, religious leaders, and citizens embrace the idea that the United States was founded as a Christian nation. This learning module will explore the extent to which Americans espouse this belief. Download the free module on the ARDA.

Is the United States a Christian Nation?

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The Purists Are Losing: How American Catholics Are Rewriting the Rules In a new installment of #AheadOfTheTrend, @ryanburge.bsky.social analyzes data from the American Catholic Laity Poll on who American Catholics believe should have the final say on morality issues: individuals or the Church.

The Purists Are Losing: How American Catholics Are Rewriting the Rules

Ahead of the Trend Article - Title: The Purists Are Losing: How American Catholics Are Rewriting the Rules ; Date: 2026-07-02

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As we near #America250, we are taking the opportunity to reflect on our past and consider the future.

The concepts of extrinsic religion and intrinsic religion were developed by Gordon Allport in 1960. The terms can best be understood in the as differences in religious orientation. Define these and hundreds of other terms with the ARDA's free Religion Dictionary. (Link in Comments.)

New Ahead of the Trend column from @religiondata.bsky.social shows there is really no evidence that huge swaths of the country think that having a “Christian country” is very/extremely important (33%). For Evangelicals, though, it's 68%. www.thearda.com/categories/a...

"Should America Have a Christian Culture?" In the latest #AheadOfTheTrend, @ryanburge.bsky.social analyzed data from @pewresearch.org's American Trends Panel for a question that asked: "How important is it for the United States to have a culture based in Christian religious beliefs?"

Should America Have a Christian Culture?

Ahead of the Trend Article - Title: Should America Have a Christian Culture? ; Date: 2026-06-18

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Clergy Beliefs on Faith, Gender, Sexual Orientation, and Science This free research module explores what clergy think about the above topics. Students will deepen understanding of the views of clergy and how leaders from various religious traditions differ from one another. Download the module:

Clergy Beliefs on Faith, Gender, Sexual Orientation, and Science

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"The share of Gen Z who can’t trust others at all is 74%; that’s seven points higher than Millennials. The share who say others can be trusted is a measly 13%. That’s 11 points lower than Millennials and 17 points lower than Gen X." — #AheadOfTheTrend

The Black Church Burning Project exists to identify and document every Black church and congregation that was burned, bombed, or otherwise attacked during the Civil Rights era and to bring these forgotten stories forward for scholars, communities, and the public. Learn more on their website:

"Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted or that you can’t be too careful in dealing with people?" In the latest installment of #AheadOfTheTrend, @ryanburge.bsky.social analyzes data from the General Social Survey showing Gen Z is the least trusting generation.

Gen Z Doesn't Trust Anyone

Ahead of the Trend Article - Title: Gen Z Doesn't Trust Anyone ; Date: 2026-06-11

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Learning Module Spotlight: Religious Views on Homosexuality In June, there is increased attention on the LGBTQ+ community. This free college-level learning module guides users in exploring data from the General Social Survey on attitudes around sexual orientation.

Religious Views on Homosexuality

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In addition to our collection of college-level learning modules, the ARDA also contains introductory data literacy assignments for middle and high school students. These short exercises help build research skills and religion knowledge using data from our archive. Explore 40 high school modules:

Jr Sr High Modules | Learning Modules | Teaching

Build High School Level Research Skills and Religion Knowledge With Short Exercises that Interactively Explore the Best Data and Information Sources on Religion

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The ARDA kicked off @csraac.bsky.social's 9th Biennial Conference on Religion and American Culture with a workshop highlighting various resources available on the site for better research, teaching, and understanding of religion research. #RAAC2026

The 9th Biennial Conference on Religion and American Culture is under way! Follow along all weekend while we share quotes, photos, and highlights from this year's event. Participate in the Biennial conversation by using #RAAC2026 and comment your questions to be shared with panelists.

New datasets are now available for free on the ARDA! This month, we've added data from @prri.org, @pewresearch.org, the Censuses of Religious Bodies, and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. Explore all of these datasets and more at www.thearda.com/data-archive....

"Data paints a pretty clear picture: religious folks—however you measure the concept are less likely to report being 'not too happy.'" Read more from the latest #AheadOfTheTrend column in the pinned comment.

Please check out & share this incredible new digital humanities archive w/ interactive map, the Black Church Burning Project. blackchurchburningproject.org It exists to identify & document every Black church & congregation that was burned, bombed, or otherwise attacked during the Civil Rights era.