Reply #9: I've also seen figures that say that the difference in growth between

[Lydia Leftcoast]

the liberal churches and the fundie churches is due to birth rates.

The fundie churches attract young suburbanites steeped in pop culture who are in their childbearing years.

The mainline churches are more friendly to singles and GLBT people, who have fewer children.

But the mainline churches, especially the Episcopalians, attract a lot of people who USED TO be fundamentalists, who still believe in God, but don't want all the controlling nonsense. There are so many converts TO the Episcopal church that we have a phrase "cradle Episcopalian" (a rare thing, like a "native Oregonian") to describe someone who came from an Episcopal family background as opposed to being an adult convert.

In my EFM (an Episcopal Bible and theology study program for adults) group, there are ten people and I think two are cradle Episcopalians.