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End of the Year Miscellany, 12/30/24

End of the Year Miscellany, 12/30/24

Last updated on: December 30, 2024 at 6:00 am by Gene Veith

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End of the Year Miscellany, 12/30/24 2024-12-21T15:46:54-05:00 Gene Veith

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The most popular Bible verses of 2024. The decline in church attendance has stopped. And the U.S. population is up.

Most Popular Bible Verses of 2024

You can tell a lot about Christians’ state of mind and spirit by learning what Scripture passages they are turning to. With so many people around the world are reading the Bible online, we can track exactly what passages those are.

The Bible app YouVersion announced that the verse that had the highest engagement–that is, was the most bookmarked, highlighted, and shared–was Philippians 4:6: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

The online multi-language, multi-translation site Bible Gateway gives even more information. In accord with YouVersion, Philippians 4 was the top New Testament chapter, tied with 1 Corinthians 13 (“the greatest of these is love”). The top Old Testament chapters were Psalm 23 (“The Lord is my shepherd”) and Psalm 91 (“My refuge and my fortress!”).

Most notable, according to Bible Gateway, was a resurgence of interest in the Psalms, the most popular book of the Bible by far. One-third of the top 100 most-read verses are from the Psalms, as were 22 of the top 25 (mostly the verses of Psalms 23 and 91). Number one: Psalm 23:4: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”

YouVersion also noted a new interest in prayer, as its prayer functions surged in demand around the world. Also interesting were its statistics on global Bible reading, with the biggest growth taking place in Africa [South Sudan (82%), Angola (68%), Mozambique (55%), Guinea (50%), Nigeria (35%), and Algeria (35%)] and Latin America [Nicaragua (107%), Venezuela (74%), Bolivia (52%), Honduras (50%), Cuba (45%), and Argentina (30%)].

HT: Rachel Pfeiffer

The Decline in Church Attendance Has Stopped

As we all know, church attendance in the United States is way down. What you might not know is that the decline seems to have stopped. In fact, the rate of church attendance has been stable for the last 5 years.

Actually, it has been pretty stable for the last 5 years. According to Christian demographer Ryan Burge, 24.8% of Americans reported going to church every week in 2019. In 2023, the latest year we have data for, the percentage was 24.5%. That difference, he says, is not statistically significant

Religion reporter Hannah Seariac, in an article about the phenomenon, suggests that one reason for the stability is that while more and more women have stopped going to church, more and more men have started going.

U.S. Population Is Up

We have been hearing a lot about the dire consequences of the population implosion, as birth rates plummet and fewer couples are having children. But it turns out, in 2024 the population of the United States increased by 1%, the biggest jump in 20 years.

That’s an increase of some 3.3 million, sending our population past 340 million. That’s the good news. But, as Census Bureau demographer Kristie Wilder says, “What stands out is the diminishing role of natural increase over the last five years, as net international migration has become the primary driver of the nation’s growth.”

Oh. It’s mostly from immigration. Not completely, though. Between 2023 and 2024, births outnumbered deaths by nearly 519,000. But I suspect many of those births were also from migrant families, many of whom are not here legally and many of whom President-elect Trump plans to send back.

United States population

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