The Barna Group: The latest research shows that a slight majority of born-again adults – 55 precent – claimed to have shared their faith in Christ with a non-Christian during the prior 12 months. That figure has remained relatively constant during the past decade.
Some groups within the born again population were more likely than others to have engaged in outreach efforts. For instance, two-thirds of evangelicals (66 percent) had shared their faith, compared to just two-fifths (41 percent) of those who are associated with mainline churches. While six out of ten Protestants had shared their faith (61 percent), less than four out of ten born-again Catholics (37 percent) had done so.
There were also some surprising regional disparities. By far the lowest rate of evangelistic activity occurred among Midwestern born again adults: just 41 percent of them shared their faith. Unexpectedly, the most prolific evangelizers were in the western states, where two-thirds (65 percent) had engaged in personal outreach efforts. The South and Northeast – often assumed to be the bright and dark spots, respectively, in regard to evangelistic efforts – feel in-between the extremes (58 percent of northeastern and 59 percent of southern Christians shared their faith).
Another major difference related to race. Whites were less likely to share their faith than were people from the two largest racial groups. While half of all born-again whites (49 percent) evangelized in the past year, almost two-thirds of born-again blacks (63 percent) had done so and three-quarters of born-again Hispanics (76 percent) were active in spreading their faith views.
