More Church Research

1. Loaded with the typical Christian information sources (namely Gallup, Barna, and John C. Green), Ron Sider delivers his next sweeping indictment of his target audience--Evangelical Christians--in his latest book, The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience. His main point: when the numbers come rolling out, Evangelicals don't look any different than society at large; most notably, they don't look any different along measures of morals and values. Interesting.
   
   An interview which moves through the major points and themes of the book can be found here.
   
   Related Reading
   PBS: Religion & Ethics intervew with Anna Greenberg and John Green
   
   Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger By Ron Sider
   
   




2. Christian Publishing Information: Here's the first in my searches for the numbers of Christian books sold in a year: Christian Books
   
   2002 sales of books and products through all channels: just under $4.2 billion, up from $4 billion in 2000. $2.4 billion sold through Christian retail outlets; $1.1 billion through general retail; and $725 million through direct-to-consumer ministry channels. First 6 months of 2003: CBA member store sales were down 2%. Books increased 8%, Bibles increased 2% but music and gifts decreased 9%.
   --Christian Booksellers Association reported in Publishers Weekly, August 4, 2003