How to Share Christianity in an Age of No Faith

According to the Pew Research Center, the number of Evangelical, Catholic, and mainline Protestant believers is falling, while the number of those who don't identify with any organized religion is growing.

Just under 71 percent of Americans called themselves Christians in 2014, compared to 78 percent in 2007.

Twenty-three percent identified themselves as atheist, agnostic, or no particular faith last year, compared to only 16 percent in 2007.

How do you share faith in an increasinly non-religious world? Ben Connelly, a pastor and co-author of the book A Field Guide for Everyday Missions: 30 Days and 101 Ways to Demonstrate the Gospel, discusses with CBN News Reporter Heather Sells effective ways to share the Gospel.

"What we're seeing now is that the share of people who say religion is important to them is declining," Greg Smith, associate director of research at the Pew Research Center, said. "The religiously unaffiliated are not just growing, but as they grow, they are becoming more secular."

An analysis by Christianity Today, shows the drop in Evangelicals as a percentage of the population is slight, only about 1 percent less than seven years ago. Today, Evangelicals comprise about 25.4 percent of the population, as opposed to 26.3 percent in 2007.

In comparison, mainline Protestants dropped by about 3.5 percent and Catholics fell by 3 percent of the overall population. Since Evangelicals gained about 5 million members since 2007, it's possible many mainliners moved to evangelical churches.

Still, the number of people who profess no religious affiliation jumped by 7 percent. The trend is highest among young adults, but the decline is happening among Americans of both genders and of all ages, races, and education levels.

Church leaders say it's more imperative than ever to share the Gospel message.