Westerners likelier to share their faith
Associated Press

CHEYENNE - Almost two-thirds of born-again Christians in Western states share their faith with nonbelievers, more than in any other region, according to a The Barna Group, a Ventura, Calif.-based organization that studies Christianity.

"Unexpectedly, the most prolific evangelizers were in the western states," the study, released Monday, said, reporting that 65 percent of born-again Christians in the West had engaged in evangelistic activity. That compared with 59 percent in the South, 58 percent in the Northeast and 41 percent in the Midwest. Styles of evangelism also varied from region to region. The study found westerners most likely to engage in "Socratic evangelism" - engaging in a discussion with a non-Christian about a moral or spiritual matter. That approach was least common in the South and Midwest.

J.D. Megason, pastor of Cheyenne's First Congregational Church and head of the capital city's Evangelical Ministerial Association, said he wasn't surprised by the study's findings, but that cultural difference between westerners and people from other regions might influence the way outsiders view the West.


"It's not so much that people don't want to include their faith in their politics, it's more a matter of independent thinking," Megason said. "Even among Christians in Cheyenne, there's a feeling of independence - people think for themselves on both religious and political issues."

George Barna, the group's founder, said that Socratic approach may be a result of a liberal Western mind-set that often tolerates abortion and gay marriage.

"The West is an environment that calls you either to be serious or to give up," Barna said. "If you're someone who stands out and wants to be different, and you say to yourself, 'I believe I'm different because my perspective comes from the Bible,' you'd better know how to connect Scripture to the issue in a compelling manner, because neither the media nor the general population believes that the Bible matters nor that it is truth."

The study was based on telephone interviews conducted in late January and early February 2004. The sample included 385 born-again Christians, with a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Respondents were not asked to describe themselves as "born again" or "evangelical." Instead, the study defines born-again Christians as those who have made a personal commitment to Jesus that is important in their lives and who believe they are going to heaven because they confessed their sins and accepted Jesus as their savior.

It defines evangelicals as meeting seven criteria, including feeling a responsibility to share their faith

The study also found that 76 percent of born-again Hispanics had evangelized, compared with 63 percent of blacks and 49 percent of whites.