The Story: A new finding shows that Christians—especially evangelicals—who have more education are more likely to be religiously observant.
The Background: A common perception, as Pew Research notes, is that highly educated people are less religious, on average, than those with less education. While that is true in some respects, it is not true for Christians. Among Christians, those with higher levels of education appear to be just as religious as those with less schooling, and are, on average, more likely than less-educated Christians to say they are weekly churchgoers.
This is especially true of evangelicals. Among evangelicals with a college degree, 87 are highly religious, compared to 83 percent of those with some college and 82 percent of evangelicals with a high school diploma or less schooling.
They are also more likely to pray daily (83 percent, compared to 79 percent of those with some college and 77 percent of evangelicals with a high school diploma or less schooling) and believe in God with absolute certainty (90 percent, compared to 88 percent of those with some college and 87 percent of evangelicals with a high school diploma or less schooling).
The biggest difference is on attendance of weekly church services. Among evangelicals with a college degree, 68 go to church weekly, compared to 55 percent of those with some college or with a high school diploma or less schooling.
Why It Matters: In our current information age, we’re flooded with this type of data on a near daily basis. When we see a report like this it’s tempting to pay attention only long enough for it to confirm our prior beliefs (“I always knew educated people were religious…”). But if we take the time to consider the finding we may gain a better understanding of how to reach the unchurched.
Here are a couple of questions to consider.
What is the connection between education and religiosity within evangelicalism?
My own view is that, on average, levels of higher education are only slightly correlated—if correlated at all—with higher levels of average intelligence. What college seems to provide (and sometimes forces upon a person) is a broader perspective on the world than they might otherwise have been exposed. But even that factor is highly variable. What I suspect a college degree mostly tells us about a person is that they have a willingness or ability to conform to the formal strictures of an institution.
People who don’t go to college (or leave college before graduating) do so for a variety of reasons. But one often overlooked reason is because some people who just spent 13 years in formal schooling do not want to continue in an institutional environment.
Could that factor into the differences in church attendance rates between those with different education levels? If so, how could we change our church practices to appear less like the type of educational institution people have chosen to avoid? (E.g., not referring to the facilities as a “campus” or not referring to adult classes as “Sunday school.”)
Why is the gap between religiosity and church attendance correlated with education?
The rate at which evangelicals at every educational level say religion is important to them is roughly the same. However, the gap between those who say religion is important and those who attend services weekly varies greatly by religion (a 13-point gap for college grads, a 23-point gap for some college, and a 24-point gap for high school or less). What could account for such a significant (10-11 point) gap?
Part of the answer could be the institutional factor we mentioned above. But it’s also likely to be that educational levels correlate with peer groupings. Generally speaking, people tend to socialize with those with similar levels of education. If you’re a college graduate and the only people you ever invite to church are people from work or your social circles, then you may be missing out on inviting people who never finished high school. If this is the case, what can churches do to encourage their members to connect with people from different educational backgrounds?
As with any survey, we don’t want to put too much weight on the findings or overinterpret the results. But such data should prompt us to consider whether such educational patterns reflect our own churches and, if so, how we might use that knowledge to better reach the marginally attached evangelicals in our community.
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We need one another. Yet we don’t always know how to develop deep relationships to help us grow in the Christian life. Younger believers benefit from the guidance and wisdom of more mature saints as their faith deepens. But too often, potential mentors lack clarity and training on how to engage in discipling those they can influence.
Whether you’re longing to find a spiritual mentor or hoping to serve as a guide for someone else, we have a FREE resource to encourage and equip you. In Growing Together: Taking Mentoring Beyond Small Talk and Prayer Requests, Melissa Kruger, TGC’s vice president of discipleship programming, offers encouraging lessons to guide conversations that promote spiritual growth in both the mentee and mentor.
