Fifty Years Ago
In July, America will celebrate its 250th anniversary.
I distinctly remember our last national milestone, the Bicentennial celebration of turning 200 in 1976. I was 14 years old, getting ready to enter my freshman year of high school. It was a big deal, and the levels of national pride and celebration were palpable.
It doesn’t quite feel the same this time around.
Not just because of our deep divisions over ideology and politics. Not just because of culture wars. Not just because of rising oil prices or the war with Iran.
It’s because it’s just a very different America spiritually.
Just Google something like “religion in America in 1976,” and you’ll quickly discover that in 1976, religion in America was experiencing a notable resurgence, with Gallup reporting the first increase in church attendance in nearly 20 years.
1976 was also marked by high levels of belief, with 94% of Americans believing in God. A strong sense of “civil religion” existed, with many viewing the Bicentennial as a time for national religious renewal and reflection on America as a “nation under God.”
While Protestant denominations were the largest group, they began experiencing membership declines, and evangelical influence was growing. It was often called the “Year of the Evangelical” due to Jimmy Carter’s presidential campaign. Many noted the rise of the “born-again movement.” About 34% of Americans identified as “born again,” and around half of all Protestants identified as such.
Fifty years later?
Only 81% of Americans believe in God. The largest and fastest-growing religious group is the “nones.” Only 30% or so attend church on a regular basis. And while as many as 45% believe that America should be a Christian nation, only 30% or so believe it actually is.
The Pew Research Center recently released a comparison of 2026 to 1976.
They found that:
U.S. society has changed profoundly since then. Over the past five decades, the U.S. population has aged significantly, with the percentage of people 65 and older nearly doubling. The country has also become more racially and ethnically diverse, as growing shares of people identify as Asian or Hispanic. And following more than 70 million immigrant arrivals, the percentage of foreign-born people in the population has more than tripled.
Americans are also less likely to be married than ever before. Women – who now have far more options outside of the home than they did in 1976 – have contributed to a boom in higher education and helped expand the workforce. And even though many Americans are financially better off than they were 50 years ago, economic gaps have widened.
But they left out the real headline of what has really changed.
We’re no longer that big into being “one nation under God.”
James Emery White
Sources
“The United States at 250: How the Country Has Changed in the Past 50 Years,” Pew Research Center, March 25, 2026, read online.
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Photo Credit: @Unsplash/Aaron Burden
James Emery White is the founding and senior pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte, NC, and a former professor of theology and culture at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where he also served as their fourth president. His latest book, Hybrid Church: Rethinking the Church for a Post-Christian Digital Age, is now available on Amazon or from your favorite bookseller. To enjoy a free subscription to the Church & Culture blog, visit churchandculture.org where you can view past blogs in our archive, read the latest church and culture news from around the world, and listen to the Church & Culture Podcast. Follow Dr. White on X, Facebook, and Instagram at @JamesEmeryWhite.
Originally published April 09, 2026.
