Silicon Valley Churchgoers Opting Not To Affiliate With Any Faith

PALO ALTO (KCBS)—An increasing number of Americans say they have no religious affiliation. It's a trend reflected right here in the Silicon Valley's faith community.

Alex Ushakaov is like many Americans. He goes to a Christian church occasionally, but isn't particular about affiliation.

When asked if he knew of the denomination of the Palo Alto church he occasionally attends, he wasn't even aware.

It's a testament to the statistic that one in five U.S. adults now chooses not to affiliate with any major religion, that statistic is up five percent over the past five years, according to the Pew Forum on Religion.

KCBS' Matt Bigler Reports:

"I just think it's kind of a fundamental shift. That's what's going on, slowly but surely," he said.

Regular church attendance in Silicon Valley is in the single digits, said Jon Talbert, pastor at the Westgate Church in San Jose. He said they are struggling to overcome negative attitudes about Christians.

"They're judgmental, they're homophobic, they are hypocritical and they don't care about anything that happens in the community and we believe we have to change that and change the perceptions. We don't believe that that's how Jesus would have lived," Talbert said of the perceived attitudes toward Christians.

The Pew study finds that, for the first, time the number of Protestants in the U.S. has dipped below 50 percent of the population.

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