The Barna Group
Encyclopedia
The Barna Group is an evangelical Christian
polling firm based in Ventura, California
.
, a media research specialist holding graduate degrees in urban planning
and political science
, for the purpose of providing "research and marketing expertise as a service to Christian ministry." For the first seven years of its existence, the Barna Group provided research services for the Disney Channel
, work that provided enough cash flow to allow the company to gradually expand its services to the Christian community. Other clients have included the American Broadcasting Company
, VISA
, and the military. In 1991, the company cut ties with Disney to concentrate its resources on a campaign to transform the church. According to the Barna Group, "The ultimate aim of the firm is to partner with Christian ministries and individuals to be a catalyst in moral and spiritual transformation in the United States. It accomplishes these outcomes by providing vision, information, evaluation and resources through a network of intimate partnerships." Opinion polls provided by The Barna Group are frequently cited in national and international news media in articles about American religion.
The concept of notional Christians seems to have been created by the Barna Group for the purposes of gathering statistics. They define the term as follows: "We categorize Notional Christian as those who describe themselves as Christians, but do not believe that they will have eternal life because of their reliance upon the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the grace extended to people through a relationship with Christ. (A large majority of these individuals believe they will have eternal life, but not because of a grace-based relationship with Jesus Christ.)" The term implies that some have the notion that they are Christian, though they do not meet the Barna Group's definition of Christian.
, Brian McLaren
, Mike Foster, Sarah Cunningham, Margaret Feinberg
, and Rick McKinley.
John Piper speaks of a tendency within the scientific research and academic community to misrepresent the underlying dynamic of the Christian rebirth, which does not readily lend itself to objectivized empirical analysis:
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
polling firm based in Ventura, California
Ventura, California
Ventura is the county seat of Ventura County, California, United States, incorporated in 1866. The population was 106,433 at the 2010 census, up from 100,916 at the 2000 census. Ventura is accessible via U.S...
.
Overview
It consists of five divisions focusing on primary research (The Barna Research Group); communications tools (BarnaFilms); printed resources (BarnaBooks); leadership development for young people (The Josiah Corps); and church facilitation and enhancement (Transformation Church Network). It was founded in 1984 by George BarnaGeorge Barna
George Barna is the founder of The Barna Group, a market research firm specializing in studying the religious beliefs and behavior of Americans, and the intersection of faith and culture...
, a media research specialist holding graduate degrees in urban planning
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
and political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
, for the purpose of providing "research and marketing expertise as a service to Christian ministry." For the first seven years of its existence, the Barna Group provided research services for the Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
, work that provided enough cash flow to allow the company to gradually expand its services to the Christian community. Other clients have included the American Broadcasting Company
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, VISA
Visa
Visa or VISA may refer to:* Visa , a document issued by a country's government allowing the holder to enter or to leave that country...
, and the military. In 1991, the company cut ties with Disney to concentrate its resources on a campaign to transform the church. According to the Barna Group, "The ultimate aim of the firm is to partner with Christian ministries and individuals to be a catalyst in moral and spiritual transformation in the United States. It accomplishes these outcomes by providing vision, information, evaluation and resources through a network of intimate partnerships." Opinion polls provided by The Barna Group are frequently cited in national and international news media in articles about American religion.
The concept of notional Christians seems to have been created by the Barna Group for the purposes of gathering statistics. They define the term as follows: "We categorize Notional Christian as those who describe themselves as Christians, but do not believe that they will have eternal life because of their reliance upon the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the grace extended to people through a relationship with Christ. (A large majority of these individuals believe they will have eternal life, but not because of a grace-based relationship with Jesus Christ.)" The term implies that some have the notion that they are Christian, though they do not meet the Barna Group's definition of Christian.
Books
The Barna Group has released more than 400 books. Recent popular titles include De-evolution (2006), which discusses how Christians have exited traditional churches to embrace non-traditional/Jewish faith communities and unChristian (2007), which studies how outsiders perceive the church at large and includes contributions from authors like Rick WarrenRick Warren
Richard Duane "Rick" Warren is an American evangelical Christian minister and author. He is the founder and senior pastor of Saddleback Church, an evangelical megachurch located in Lake Forest, California, currently the eighth-largest church in the United States...
, Brian McLaren
Brian McLaren
Brian D. McLaren is a prominent, controversial evangelical pastor. He was recognized as one of Time magazine's "25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America" in 2005, and is the founding pastor of Cedar Ridge Community Church in Spencerville, Maryland.-Biography:Born in 1956, Brian McLaren...
, Mike Foster, Sarah Cunningham, Margaret Feinberg
Margaret Feinberg
Margaret Feinberg is an author and public speaker based in Morrison, Colorado. She creates books, Bible studies, and video curriculum aimed at the Christian bookstore market.- Biography :...
, and Rick McKinley.
Criticism
The Barna Group has also been criticized for devaluing the meaning of the new birth. In his book Finally Alive, John Piper a pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, states that:
In the report titled “Born Again Christians Just as Likely to Divorce as Are Non-Christians,” Barna uses the word evangelicals interchangeably with born again [....] In other words, the broadly defined evangelical church as a whole in America and the West in general is apparently not very unlike the world. It goes to church on Sunday and has a veneer of religion, but its religion is basically an add-on to the same way of life the world lives, not a transforming power.
John Piper speaks of a tendency within the scientific research and academic community to misrepresent the underlying dynamic of the Christian rebirth, which does not readily lend itself to objectivized empirical analysis:
I’m not saying their research is wrong. It appears to be appallingly right. I am not saying that the church is not as worldly as they say it is. I am saying that the writers of the New Testament think in exactly the opposite direction about being born again. Instead of moving from a profession of faith, to the label born again, to the worldliness of these so-called born again people, to the conclusion that the new birth does not radically change people, the New Testament moves in the other direction.
It moves from the absolute certainty that the new birth radically changes people, to the observation that many professing Christians are indeed (as the Barna Group says) not radically changed, to the conclusion that they are not born again.