Eight locales in the Northeast and New England, a region historically known for its “righteous roots” and religious freedom, along with two West Coast spots, top the Barna Group’s annual list of most “post-Christian” cities.
Barna researchers use the designation to classify places where the fewest people follow Christian beliefs and practices, as measured by a list of more than a dozen factors.
The Springfield-Holyoke area in western Massachusetts, came in at the top of the post-Christian rankings in 2019, with a majority of residents saying they had never made a commitment to Jesus (60%), hadn’t gone to church recently (65%), and hadn’t read a Bible that week (87%). A significant minority—four in ten residents—said they did not consider faith as an important part of their lives.
Then came fellow New England metros rounding out the top 5: Portland-Auburn, Maine (moving from first place on 2017’s list to second place in 2019); Providence, ...
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