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A Study Of People's religious habits has produced some insights into their feelings about church membership. Three groups of North Carolinians and Southern Californians were surveyed: generation Xers, born between 1964 and 1979; baby boomers—those born between 1946 and 1963—and pre-boomers, who were born prior to 1946. The study was conducted by Rev. Jackson W. Carroll of Duke University and Professor Wade Clark Roof at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Since 45 percent of the Xers went through some form of family disruption—parental divorce or separation, for example—the researchers suggest that this could be the reason for the low percentage of Xers who were involved in religion while they were growing up.

Another finding involved both Xers and boomers who "are more interested in autonomy, freedom, independent thought and religious exploration and are not committed to institutional religious involvement." As a result, these individuals are often uninformed about religion, traditions that Christians take for granted, and the Bible. "That means there is a major educational task facing churches today," says Rev. Mr. Carroll.

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