Pew measures shifts in T
he year 2013 brought about a number of data milestones in American public opin-
ion, including same-sex mar- riage, Roman Catholicism, per- sonal freedom and immigration, according to the Pew Research Center. For the first time, just more
than half (51 percent) of the public favor same-sex marriage, while 42 percent were opposed. The number of states allowing same-sex marriage doubled to 18. A Supreme Court decision required the federal government to treat legally married same-sex couples as it would heterosexual couples. The court also dismissed a California Proposition 8 appeal on procedural grounds, thereby allowing same-sex marriages to resume in that state. Support for gay marriage rose
among members in several reli- gious traditions. Among Roman Catholics and white mainline Protestants, roughly half now express support for same-sex marriage, compared with about
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social issue public opinion 40 percent a decade ago. The percentage of Americans who
called themselves “strong” Roman Catholics reached a four-decade low of 27 percent. In comparison, about 54 percent of American Protestants described their religious identity as strong. A majority of the public (53 per-
cent) said the federal government threatens their personal rights and freedoms. About 90 cases have been filed against the Affordable Care Act mandate that employers provide con- traceptive coverage in their health plans. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the lawsuit filed by Hobby Lobby against the federal government over the mandate. The U.S. is now home to a record
40.4 million immigrants, or about 12 percent of its 317 million popu- lation. Though immigration reform was often overshadowed by other issues last year, immigration activ- ism was strong among various reli- gious groups, including evangeli- cals, Roman Catholics, Hispanic Christians, Jews and multireligious groups.
Oldest Gettysburg grad William C. Karns, a member and pastor emeritus of St. John Lutheran Church in Littlestown, Pa., died Dec. 29 at age 104. Karns, who toured the Seminary Ridge Museum before exhibit installa- tion this past summer, was the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg’s and Gettysburg [Pa.] College’s oldest alumnus. Karns taught adult Christian education at St. John until recently. When he toured the seminary and rehabilitated Schmucker Hall, where he lived as a seminarian in the early 1930s, he identifi ed his room and refl ected with humor on dorm life, including his advocacy for rigorous physical activity, unusual in those days.
2013 was Philippians 4:13 (“I can do all things through [Christ] who strengthens me”). Other popular verses were Isaiah 40:31, Matthew 6:13, Joshua 1:9 and Philippians 4:6. The most read chapter was Romans 8. The app doesn’t provide access to the New Revised Standard Version, used by the ELCA and other main- line churches, but rather the New International Version, King James Version, Contemporary English Ver- sion and other translations, in more than 400 languages.
Megachurch stats There are 1,650 megachurches in the U.S., but none in Delaware, Maine, Rhode Island and Vermont, accord- ing to the Leadership Network’s Warren Bird. Bird also noted that although 0.5 percent of American churches are megachurches, nearly 10 percent of Protestants attend one.
Hymns galore
The Canterbury Dictionary of Hym- nology, a Web-based resource released in 2013, is the result of 12 years of research by editors in the United Kingdom and Nash- ville, Tenn. It’s the first attempt in more than a century to replace John Julian’s A Dictionary of Hymnology (first published in 1892). The online dictionary—with more than 300 contributors from 30 countries— includes some 4,000 individual entries on writers, composers, hymns and songs. It also features articles on major figures and movements in worldwide hymnology. For more information, see www.hymnology.
com.uk.
Refugee reforms Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service welcomed Congress’ Dec. 19 passage of reforms (within the 12
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www.thelutheran.org
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