Who is "winning" and who is "losing", thoughts on the Pew Research Center's data

Much has been made of the recent Pew Center research showing a big gain among the "none/unaffiliated" in American religious life.  While this is certainly a concern, and one that churches know all too well when it reflects the reluctance of even regularly attending people to become members (with the rights and responsibilities that entails, which varies by denomination).  The article on the FiveThirtyEight website analyzing that data is worth thinking about as it sheds light on the bigger picture concerning the direction that American religious life is heading.  The future is, of course, unknowable by us, but it is important to have a clear understanding of where we stand at the present.

FiveThirtyEight article on Pew Research

One thought on the article: When an Evangelical church gains a "convert" from a Catholic church or a Mainline church, it isn't a "gain" for Christ's Church (unless the person in question had no prior relationship with God despite being formerly part of a church), it is simply shifting people from one a Christ's flocks to another.  The Church, the universal Church, needs to grow by bringing in the Lost, those who don't know Christ, as well as retaining our own natural growth of those raised in the Church.  It is always good to see people more committed to Christ, and if changing denominations is a part of that deeper commitment it is a good thing, but that isn't the same thing as taking the Gospel to the Lost.  Our focus in evangelism should always be to seek the Lost, not shuffle the Found into a new category.  People will always change churches, for good reasons and bad, Americans especially it seems, but our "growth" will only be growth in the genuine sense when it encompasses new sinners saved by grace.