Ryan Burge’s Twitter bio says that he makes graphs about religion, but what Ryan does is so much more than making graphs. As a social scientist, Ryan studies the macro-level forces that are shaping churches across the nation--mostly in mainline Protestant denominations. The data that Ryan studies doesn’t show a surge of people coming back to mainline religious institutions, so what does that mean for churches? In Ryan’s view, it gives churches an opportunity to get back into local communities, lean into the diversity of the world around us, and do what the Church used to do well: build bridges to people who are different from us.

Ryan is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and the Graduate Coordinator at Eastern Illinois University. He is the author of The Nones and 20 Myths. The second of edition of The Nones comes out in May 2023. He is also the pastor of an American Baptist Church and has served at his current church for the past 15 years.

Resources:

Ryan’s website (ryanburge.net)

Find Ryan on Twitter (@ryanburge)

Email Ryan: [email protected]

Ryan’s Books:

The Nones

20 Myths