Many churches today are explicitly constructed not to look and feel too much like a religious place. A stark contrast to the ancient cathedrals and churches of old—the very design of which was intended to help people experience the divine. How does this design shift impact worshipers? What about outsiders? What do church buildings say about the faith of those inside? And, when it comes to the next generation of believers, does the building itself have anything to do with their resistance or attraction to the church? To understand the principles of design that best resonate with Millennials, Barna Group partnered with Cornerstone Knowledge Network to conduct a multi-phase research program.

How then should we think about our rights with regard to death? Should life be in our control? Does it belong to us, to create or eliminate? The apostle Paul did not leave us without help on this question.

The research reveals the big picture: Today’s unchurched are much less likely to come from a church background than ever before.

Much has been made of the growing post-Christian sentiment among America’s youngest generation of adults. But how has this well-documented turn away from religion affected Millennials’ views of Christianity’s most sacred text? In a recent study among Millennials, conducted in partnership with American Bible Society and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Barna Group sought to discover how changing ideas about Christianity might be affecting perceptions of the Bible.

David Kinnaman, President of the Barna Group, calculates that 38% of Americans are “churchless.”

At the end of the nineteenth century, academics began to shift control of higher knowledge away from clerics and to professionals like themselves. This broad secularization was accompanied by a kind of privatization where churches retreated from public space, abandoning knowledge claims in political and cultural affairs. In the spiritual vacuum created by the naked public university, Christian study centers have started.

Marriage in America is in trouble. New data from Pew Research shows that barely half of adults in the U.S. are married, and if this trend continues, singles will soon make up the majority of the adult U.S. population. All of this coincides with record numbers of out-of-wedlock births, prompting the obvious question—what kind of relationships are couples choosing instead of marriage?

Switzerland has become such a “suicide tourism” destination that in England the phrase “going to Switzerland” has come to mean committing assisted suicide.

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected requests to review lower court decisions that overturned bans on same-sex marriage in five states: Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. David Masci, Senior Researcher at the Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project, analyzes the practical effects of that decision.

Russell Moore addresses the argument that it is hypocritical for a minister to oppose same sex marriage while marrying people who have been previously divorced.