While recognizing many people are disconnecting from religion, Justin Dyer — Brigham Young University professor of religious education and editor-in-chief of BYU Studies — maintains an optimistic outlook.
A new paper released through BYU Studies gathered data sets from Harvard and the Pew Research Center to answer the question: ‘How are Latter-day Saints doing nationally, and how does that compare to those of other faiths or no faith?’
Latter-day Saint attendance rate is high, with 76% attending at least once a month, the study says. “The Pew data finds that Latter-day Saints attend worship services more than any other religion that they surveyed,” Dyer said.
Beyond church attendance, the study also found that Latter-day Saints rank the highest for reading scriptures and saying prayers with their children.
Commenting on the Church’s “Come, Follow Me” curriculum, Dyer shared the benefits of spiritual family studies, prayers and discussions: “You are engaging with your kids, but you’re engaging with them on things that are of deep meaning and deep value,” he explained on an episode of the Church News podcast.
“And I think we see the Church’s emphasis really paying off in those instances,” Dyer said. “I mean, getting families together is what our society needs so desperately. And within the Church, we seem to be producing that at uniquely high levels.”
Retention and its predictors
Dyer and others at BYU Studies followed the religious activity of 2,000 youth — about half Latter-day Saints, about half not — for a decade.
“And so we could see: ‘All right, when is it that they might step away from the Church? And what are the factors that were going on earlier in their lives that then predict whether or not they might step away from the Church?’” Dyer said.
At the end of the study, researchers found that one of the biggest correlational factors tied to maintaining engagement in religion is “experiencing God’s presence on a regular basis,” said Dyer.
“When you’re talking about the kinds of things that maybe are done at church, we want to make sure that those are leading to personal sorts of connections with the divine, that they feel the Holy Ghost, they feel the divine love, they feel the divine influence on their hearts,” he added.
However, for Latter-day Saints, it seems many are already participating in that practice: 67% of members feel a deep sense of spiritual peace and well-being at least once a week, the highest of any religion surveyed, according to the BYU study.
Beyond church attendance, this principle can be applied to personal prayers or scripture study. The key, he said, is to ask: “How is it that I can be connecting with God? How can I be worshipping God through this?”
Dyer said one of the greatest causes over recent decades for a drop-off in religious activity within the United States is an increased focus on self. He suggested members should attend worship meetings “not with the focus of, ‘All right, what am I going to benefit from this?’ but more with the focus of ‘How can I bless somebody else today? How can I feel God’s presence in my life today?’”
He added: “If we’re going there for the two great commandments to love God and love our neighbor, we are going to feel the joy that comes from that, and we’re going to stay much more connected.”
What the data shows about those who have left
While recognizing divine influence may be one of the greatest predictors of religious longevity, the lack of it isn’t necessarily a reason for those leaving the Church.
In fact, Dyer found that most who have left “still think religion is important,” he said. “They still think spirituality is important in their lives. And they’re still hanging on to a lot of those things.”
Those who are truly negative about religion after stepping away from the Church — about 10% of those surveyed — are the voices Dyer believes are amplified on social media.
“And very often what we find is that these individuals still hold so much of the wonderful things that the Church has given them,” he said. “And then as we understand that individual, that builds that bridge, and they feel understood and seen and heard by us.”
Instead of being preached to, this group feels a need to be heard and understood, “because our lives will do the preaching,” said Dyer.
Of the BYU Studies research, Latter-day Saints should recognize they “are doing really quite well in these areas,” Dyer said.
“My testimony isn’t based on the numbers. That helps me understand. But it also helps me to see, I think, a little bit better the work of the Lord in trying to bless His children.”
