Prolific author and demographer George Barna releases his latest book today, a volume that may stir the most interest in Christian circles since his 2006, pro-house church tome, "Revolution."

On the surface, "The Seven Faith Tribes" appears rather depressing. Barna warns that the United States is immersed in a serious decline that shows no signs of reversal.

He says ignoring the foundational values that built America have led to dangerous results. Among them: the absence of a shared vision of the future, elimination of a sense of common good and the deterioration of respectful dialogue.

In addition, Barna thinks many churches and ministries have fallen prey to the nation’s competitive spirit. He sees them competing for bodies, dollars and talent instead of upholding such values as service, responsibility and compassion.

Ironically, despite that criticism, Barna says it isn’t politicians who hold the key to restoring the nation’s strength but its dominant faith communities.

Based on 30,000 interviews, Barna’s book looks at the demise of such fundamental institutions as families, schools, churches and government. And, the potential for restoration of seven dominant religious groups, which he labels "faith tribes."

The identities of those tribes will itself spark heated discussions, since the leading one (66 percent of the adult population) is casual Christians, compared to just 16 percent categorized as captive Christians.

The third-largest group at 11 percent is "skeptics" (a term that strikes me as the opposite of faith), followed by relative smatterings of Jews, Mormons, pantheists and Muslims.

Though few can imagine assembling these groups in one place and forging unity on many issues, Barna discovered despite their diverse theological and doctrinal views, they share 20 common values.

He says those values have historically served as the basis of the nation’s consensus about how to be a great nation and achieve the common good.

Barna’s book is likely to be a significant entry in the discussion about the country’s shared vision, values and purpose. Yet before subscribing to the idea that we are in an irreversible decline of faith, consider another view from Baylor University sociologist Rodney Stark.

In a book released last fall, "What Americans Really Believe," Stark took a detailed look at religion in America. He concluded that church attendance remained steady over a 34-year period starting in 1973.

In addition, one of his most fascinating bits of research is a look at the percentage of people who belong to a local church. The figure ballooned from a low of 17 percent in 1776 to 69 percent in 2005.

The figure from the nation’s early days parallels an article I once read about alcoholism in the colonies. It reached 10 percent in the early 1790s, until a prayer movement helped stem the problem.

My point is not to ignore the fact that there are problems in our nation, spiritual or otherwise. Yet, as church leaders contemplate the future, neither should they wear rose-colored glasses when viewing the past. After all, there are reasons two Great Awakenings surfaced during the 18th century.