7 Encouraging Trends of Global Christianity in 2022.
Sometimes we can look at the Spiritual growth in America and get discouraged. Aaron Earls of LifeWay Research gives us some encouraging news concerning Global Evangelism.
- Religious faith is growing faster than the irreligious. Particularly in the West, it can seem like secularism is growing and people are leaving the church and the faith. Globally, that is not the case at all. There are fewer atheists around the world today (147 million) than in 1970 (165 million), and the Gordon-Conwell report expects the number to continue to decline into 2050. There are fewer atheists around the world today (147 million) than in 1970 (165 million).
- Christianity continues to grow. Religion is growing overall, but Christianity specific. With a 1.17% growth rate, almost 2.56 billion people will identify as a Christian by the middle of 2022. By 2050, that number is expected to top 3.33 billion.
- Growth is fastest in the global South. The places where Christianity is growing the fastest? Africa (2.77% growth) and Asia (1.50%). In 2000, 814 million Christians lived in Europe and North America, while 660 million Christians called African and Asia home. This year, 838 million live in the global North, while almost 1.1 billion Christians live in Africa and Asia alone. By 2050, Africa will be home to almost 1.3 billion Christians, while Latin America (686 million) and Asia (560 million) will both have more than Europe (497 million) and North America (276 million).
- Christianity continues to spread out. As Christianity continues to grow in the global South, it is also becoming increasingly less concentrated. In 1900, 95% of all Christians lived in a majority Christian country. In 2022, that number has fallen to 53.7%.
- The percentage of non-Christians who know a Christian is climbing. With more Christians living outside of Christian nations, more non-Christians know a Christian. In 1900, only 5.4% of non-Christians could identify a Christian they knew. That percentage has risen to 18.3% today. By 2050, 1 in 5 non-Christians (20%) will know a follower of Jesus and can hear the gospel from them.
- More than 90 million Bibles will be printed this year. As Christianity continues to grow, the printing of Bibles continues to grow along with it. This year, 93 million copies of God’s word will be printed, up from 54 million in 2000 and 5 million in 1900. By 2025, 100 million Bibles will be printed each year.
- Fewer Christians are dying for their faith. In 2000, the Status of Global Christianity marked a rate of 1.6 million Christians martyrs over a 10-year period—the high mark of their report. In 2022, they estimate the decade long number to be 900,000. Each death is a tragedy, but any improvement is worth noting.
Keep Praying for missions and evangelism to reach our World for Christ. Blessings! Pastor Charles
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