How ‘Bible Minded’ Is Your City?

Spokane, Portland and Seattle rank higher than Minneapolis/St. Paul, which comes is at #75.

The Barna Group, along with the American Bible Society, recently released their annual study into the “Bible Minded” nature of cities across the U.S. The study examined Bible reading and “belief in the Bible’s accuracy” to measure the top—and bottom—100 cities.

As expected, the so-called Bible Belt occupied the top 10 most Bible-minded cities in the nation, with Chattanooga, Tenn., taking the top spot, followed by Birmingham, Roanoke, Springfield and Shreveport.

The least Bible-minded cities included something of a surprise, as Cedar Rapids, Iowa, joined San Francisco, Boston, Albany and Providence in the bottom five least Bible-minded cities.

There were, however, some other surprises. Cities like Spokane, Portland and Seattle — areas of the country that are often considered to be less religious — scored higher in the ranking of Bible-minded cities than Minneapolis/St. Paul, which ranked 75^th out of 100. Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh also ranked higher than Minneapolis/St. Paul in the study.

“Studies like this always give us an interesting snapshot into what’s going on spiritually in the nation,” said Carl Nelson, president and CEO of Transform Minnesota. “Perhaps the more important aspect, however, is knowing how many lives are being eternally changed as a result of the gospel. While we can’t effectively measure this, we can strive to make sure that transformation is at the center of our lives and ministry.”

To read the study in its entirety, visit here.