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24-536: Barna Research Group was founded by George and Nancy Barna in 1984 and restructured in 2004 to become the Barna Group. The Barna Group was sold in September 2009. The Barna Group consists of five divisions focusing on: It was founded in 1984 by George Barna , a media research specialist holding graduate degrees in urban planning and political science , for the purpose of providing "research and marketing expertise as

48-675: A Catholic in New York City and Princeton, New Jersey but he has since engaged with evangelical Christianity . Barna has filled executive roles in politics, marketing, advertising, media development, research and ministry. He founded the Barna Research Group in 1984 (now The Barna Group ), a marketing research firm focused on the intersection of faith and culture. Through the Barna Group, George served several hundred parachurch ministries, thousands of Christian churches, and many other non-profit and for-profit organizations as well as

72-401: A campaign to transform the church. The term notional Christians seems to have been created by the Barna Group for the purposes of gathering statistics. They define the term as follows: "We categorize Notional Christian as those who describe themselves as Christians, but do not believe that they will have eternal life because of their reliance upon the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and

96-455: A house church, and has helped to start several churches. After graduating summa cum laude from Boston College, Barna earned two master's degrees from Rutgers University and received an honorary doctorate from Dallas Baptist University. After attending high school and college together, George and his wife Nancy married in 1978. They have three adopted daughters — two from Guatemala , one from Russia and three grandchildren. They live on

120-558: A result of his work, Barna has coined several terms, including: Barna is known for providing extensive surveys regarding Christianity and the state of the church. Among his findings that have generated substantial interest or controversy in recent years include: Barna considers Maximum Faith to be his most significant book. Others that he cites as being especially valuable include Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions, Think Like Jesus, The Power of Vision, and Revolution. Since 2009 in addition to writing his own books he has also been

144-632: A service to Christian ministry." For the first seven years of its existence, the Barna Group provided research services for the Disney Channel , work that provided enough cash flow to allow the company to gradually expand its services to the Evangelical Christian community. Other clients have included the American Broadcasting Company , Visa , and the military. In 1991, the company cut ties with Disney to concentrate its resources on

168-572: A writer for hire, penning books such as The Cause Within You, for Matthew Barnett, which became a New York Times bestseller in 2011. Arizona Christian University Arizona Christian University is a private Christian university in Glendale, Arizona . Founded in 1960 as Southwestern Conservative Baptist Bible College , Arizona Christian University's original campus was located at 2625 E. Cactus Road, in north-central Phoenix . Since its founding,

192-835: Is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) since the 2012–13 academic year; while its football team competes in the Frontier Conference ; its men's wrestling team competes in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC); and its men's & women's swimming teams compete in the Pacific Collegiate Swim and Dive Conference (PCSC). The Firestorm previously competed as an NAIA Independent within

216-494: Is frequently cited as an authoritative source by the media. Barna has been hailed as “the most quoted person in the Christian Church today” and has been named by various media as one of the nation's most influential Christian leaders. A frequent speaker at ministry conferences around the world, he has been on the faculty at several universities and seminaries, and has served as a pastor of a large, multi-ethnic church as well as

240-526: Is not as worldly as they say it is. I am saying that the writers of the New Testament think in exactly the opposite direction about being born again. Instead of moving from a profession of faith, to the label born again, to the worldliness of these so-called born again people, to the conclusion that the new birth does not radically change people, the New Testament moves in the other direction. It moves from

264-535: The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) in 1992. ACU’s become a non-denominational Christian college in 2007. In 2012, under the leadership of ACU President Len Munsil , the university received approval from the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) to offer degrees in biology, communication, and political science. Additional undergraduate degree programs are being planned. In March 2017, ACU received HLC approval to offer online degrees. Len Munsil assumed

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288-700: The Association of Independent Institutions (AII) from 2008 to 2012. Arizona Christian competes in 22 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis, track & field, volleyball and wrestling; while women's sports include basketball, beach volleyball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, stunt, swimming, tennis, track & field and volleyball. Club sports include badminton, band, bowling, cheerleading, dance, debate, lacrosse and shotgun sports. In 2013, Arizona Christian announced that it would be adding football in fall 2014. Jeff Rutter

312-583: The U.S. military. He sold it in 2009. He currently serves as the president of Metaformation, a faith development organization. Barna has written more than 50 books, mostly addressing cultural trends, leadership, spiritual development, and church dynamics. They include New York Times bestsellers and several award-winning books. His works have been translated into more than a dozen foreign languages. He has sold more books based on survey research related to matters of faith than any author in American history. His work

336-418: The absolute certainty that the new birth radically changes people, to the observation that many professing Christians are indeed (as the Barna Group says) not radically changed, to the conclusion that they are not born again. George Barna George Barna (born 1954) is the founder of The Barna Group , a market research firm specializing in studying the religious beliefs and behavior of Americans, and

360-706: The central California coast and attend Mission Church in Ventura. He enjoys reading, music, rooting for the Yankees and Lakers, and relaxing on the beach. Barna leads seminars for church leaders, speaks at ministry conferences, has taught at seminaries , and has been a pastor . As an author, he has written more than 50 books on contemporary Christian issues, with topics ranging from worldviews, trends and children to church life, spiritual growth and leadership. He also written more than 200 articles that have been published in professional journals, mass market publications, and online. As

384-470: The church at large and includes contributions from authors like Rick Warren , Brian McLaren , Mike Foster, Sarah Cunningham, Margaret Feinberg , and Rick McKinley. The Barna Group has also been criticized by some in the "born again" movement for devaluing the meaning of the "new birth". In his book Finally Alive , John Piper , a pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, MN , states that: In

408-487: The grace extended to people through a relationship with Christ. (A large majority of these individuals believe they will have eternal life, but not because of a grace-based relationship with Jesus Christ.)" The Barna Group has released more than 400 books. Recent popular titles include De-evolution (2006), which discusses how Christians have exited traditional churches to embrace non-traditional/Jewish faith communities and unChristian (2007), which studies how outsiders perceive

432-726: The intersection of faith and culture . From 2013–2018 he served as the executive director of the American Culture & Faith Institute, the research division of United in Purpose. In 2019 he became a professor at Arizona Christian University in Phoenix , Arizona , where he also started the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University. He is also the senior research fellow for Christian ethics and Biblical worldview at Family Research Council . George Barna grew up

456-601: The presidency of Arizona Christian University in 2010. During Munsil’s tenure, ACU enrollment has grown from around 400 to more than 1,000 total students, and in 2021 achieved its seventh straight year of record enrollment. Notable graduates of Arizona Christian University include Mark Bailey, Chancellor and former President of Dallas Theological Seminary , who also began his teaching and academic administration career at then-Southwestern College. Former National Basketball Association All-Star and coach Paul Westphal began his coaching career at then-Southwestern College, leading

480-560: The report titled “Born Again Christians Just as Likely to Divorce as Are Non-Christians,” Barna uses the word evangelicals interchangeably with born again [....] In other words, the broadly defined evangelical church as a whole in America and the West in general is apparently not very unlike the world. It goes to church on Sunday and has a veneer of religion, but its religion is basically an add-on to

504-399: The same way of life the world lives, not a transforming power. John Piper speaks of a tendency within scientific research and the academic community to misrepresent the underlying dynamic of Christian "rebirth," which does not readily lend itself to objectivized empirical analysis : I’m not saying their research is wrong. It appears to be appallingly right. I am not saying that the church

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528-453: The school to a Christian college championship. In March 2020, ACU established the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University. It was formed in partnership with George Barna , a scholar of American culture and worldview, to research and analyze the impact of the biblical worldview on American culture. The Arizona Christian athletic teams are called the Firestorm. The university

552-593: The university has undergone a number of name changes, including Southwestern College , until its name was finally changed to Arizona Christian University in January 2011. The university was founded to prepare students for careers in vocational ministry and missions, offering degrees in Biblical Studies and Christian Ministries. In 1972 the college first received accreditation with the Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE) and added regional accreditation through

576-547: Was named head coach in 2012. He was named NAIA National Coach of the Year in 2019. ACU is a non-denominational , evangelical Christian institution where applicants are required to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and agree to take part in ACU's spiritual formation activities, which include attending twice-weekly chapel services and taking 18 credit-hours of Bible. Upon application, students also acknowledge their agreement with

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