Faith/Religion

The role of religious affiliation in the United States is changing.

According to a recent survey from the Pew Forum, one in five Americans is not affiliated with any religion. 

A small part of this growing group is made up of atheists.

Last weekend, hundreds of atheists gathered in the Bible Belt – Springfield, to be exact – for Skepticon, a national skeptics convention. Not all skeptics are atheists, but many of them are.

The presidential election is just a few days away, but that’s not what this week's faith and values update is about. 

Instead, we’re going to talk about something that was making news about 500 years ago in Germany: The Protestant Reformation. This past Wednesday was Reformation Day – the anniversary of the day in 1517 when the movement began.

During the day on Tuesday, Memorial Baptist Church in Columbia will function as a polling place. But after the polls close, Pastor Kevin Glenn hopes to bring voters from all different perspectives together.

  “People of faith have become known more for their political affiliation than for their proclamation of the way of Jesus and his ethic of unconditional love,“ he said.

Columbia’s Hispanic population is growing, and so are opportunities for worship in Spanish.

The majority of Columbia Hispanics are still Catholic, but a Pentecostal congregation and the the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are among those reaching out by ministering in Spanish.