Pulse
21 Sep 2026

When the 2025 General Household Survey was released in June this year, many Christians were deeply concerned about its findings on religion, especially those concerning Christianity.

According to the 2020 Census of Population, Christians made up 18.9 percent of Singapore’s population, with Protestants accounting for 11.9 percent. According to the 2025 General Household Survey, these figures have fallen to 17.1 percent and 9.6 percent respectively – a notable decline of nearly two percentage points over the five-year period.

The Protestant Christian population saw a drop of 2.3 percentage points during this period, compared to a decline of only 0.2 percentage points in the preceding five years. In absolute numbers, the Protestant Christian population fell from 411,674 in 2020 to 345,900 in 2025 – a decrease of 65,744 people.

Alongside the decline in the Christian population, there is an uptick in the number of people who profess to have ‘no religion’ – from 20.0 percent in 2020 to 23.9 percent in 2025, a rise of nearly 4 percentage points.

This category of people is not unique to Singapore and has been subjected to serious analysis in many countries, especially the United States and Britain. In Singapore, the Institute of Policy Studies and the Rajaratnam School of International Studies have been conducting studies on this new demographic.

In the United States, the number in this group has swelled over the past fifty years. According to Gallup surveys, the Nones – or religiously unaffiliated – were almost non-existent in the 1950s. However, in recent years, it is recorded that one in four Americans (26 percent) identifies as a None.

In order to reach out to the Nones, it is important that we understand who they are and what they are about.

It would be a mistake to think that Nones are people who have given up on religion altogether and have become either atheists or agnostics. Correspondingly, it would also be a mistake to conclude that the rise in the number of Nones means that more people are abandoning their faith and that there is an increase in irreligiosity.

I do not have the figures pertaining to the Nones in Singapore. However, in the United States, about 17 percent of Nones identify as atheist and 20 percent as agnostics. The majority (63 percent) choose ‘nothing in particular’.

Who are the Nones?

So, who are the Nones?

‘Nones’ is a term used to describe individuals who in a survey about their religious identity, respond with ‘none’, that is, indicating that they are not aligned with any religious tradition. Most of them do not attend a religious service on a regular basis nor are they members of any religious organization such as the local church.

Some sociologists have distinguished several groups within the Nones:

• Secular Nones, who are atheists, agnostics or religiously indifferent
• Spiritual Nones, who are ‘spiritual but not religious’ (more about this later)
• Christian Nones, who continue to identify as Christians but reject formal church affiliation

Since the late twentieth century, especially in Western societies, there has been a rise in a cultural phenomenon which some scholars have described with the phrase ‘I am spiritual but not religious’ (SBNR). This phenomenon has appeared and grown alongside the pervasiveness of secularization, globalization and cultural individualism.

SBNR spirituality detaches and distances itself from particular religious traditions and religious institutions. It constructs a spirituality based on a collage of ideas and practices extracted from diverse sources. However, some of these spiritualities show the dominant influence of a particular religious tradition, such as Christianity.

SBNR individuals make a conscious or unconscious distinction between ‘spirituality’ and ‘religion’. Some of them see the latter as institutional, hierarchical, dogmatic and judgmental. Being spiritual, by contrast, is understood as authentic, personal, open-minded and inclusive.

According to one study in the United States, about 47 percent of the Nones say that they dislike religious organisations. A third of the Nones cite bad experiences with religious people. These are the main reasons why they are not affiliated with any religion or religious institution.

While the atheists and agnostics cite disagreement with religious teachings (83 percent and 73 percent respectively) as the reason why they are not affiliated with a religion, less than half of the Nones (48 percent) cite this as the main reason.

The rise of religious consumerism is another factor in the increase of the number of Nones and SBNR individuals. The internet and digitality have exacerbated this already growing problem by presenting religion as if it belongs to the sphere of personal consumption and self-expression. Christian Nones, for example, may listen to sermons on YouTube but choose not to be members of a local church.

It is important to note that not all Nones are spiritual, and not all SBNR individuals are unaffiliated with religious organisations. However, there is significant overlap between the two.

Engaging the Nones

How, then, should we engage the Nones?

Because the Nones are a complex and diverse group, it is important to note firstly that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to engaging them. Committed secularists or atheists require a very different approach from disillusioned Christians.

Having said that, there are a few approaches that stand out and complement each other. A combination of these strategies may be perhaps required to effectively reach out to this group of people.

Note: although I use the word ‘strategy’ to describe these approaches, I am not suggesting that they must be understood as techniques devoid of relational sincerity and authenticity.

Genuine Relationships

Many Nones are unlikely to be persuaded by aggressive and impersonal evangelistic endeavours and campaigns. Some may even be put off by them.

However, they may be open to exploring the Christian faith once a trusted relationship is established. Nones may be more willing to honestly discuss their views on religion in a relational context in which there is genuine hospitality and friendship.

In such a relationship, careful listening to their very individual and peculiar concerns is imperative – a patient listening in which judgement and advice are momentarily suspended until a better understanding prevails.

Focus on existential questions

Some Nones may have a distorted understanding of the Bible, the Christian faith or the Church. Avoid being too hasty in addressing these questions before first developing a relationship.

Very often intellectual questions mask deeper existential concerns such as ‘Can there be meaning in life?’, ‘Can anyone be trusted?’ and ‘Is there hope beyond my anxiety and uncertainty?’

These are the real questions that some Nones might be asking beneath their surface contentions with Christian teaching or some passages in the Bible. And the theology and spirituality of the Church offer rich and inexhaustible resources to address these concerns and anxieties.

Practice Intellectual Hospitality

That said, there are Nones who appreciate and are looking for genuine dialogue on various issues such as science and the Christian faith, sexuality, ethics, and the problem of evil.

Here, Christians must learn to practice intellectual hospitality. This is one of the most neglected aspects of Christian witness today.

Intellectual hospitality is the generosity of spirit that willingly receives another person’s questions, doubts, objections, perspectives and even challenges with patience, respect and charity. It does not seek to persuade them before understanding where they are coming from and what their concerns really are.

Intellectual hospitality must be distinguished from tolerance. While tolerance allows disagreement sometimes by refusing to engage, intellectual hospitality offers a genuine invitation to dialogue.

Intellectual hospitality makes the distinction between questioning and unbelief. It takes seriously the viewpoint of the sceptic and is confident in the truth of the Gospel such that winning the debate does not take priority.

Intellectual hospitality requires several virtues:

• Humility: recognising the limits of one’s own understanding.
• Patience: allowing conversations to develop over time.
• Charity: interpreting another’s argument in their strongest rather than their weakest form.
• Courage: refusing to avoid difficult topics.
• Wisdom: discerning questions that require definitive answers from those that allow for diversity of views or ongoing reflection.

Embody a Loving and Credible Christian Community

As I have already alluded to, some Nones chose to disassociate themselves from religious institutions because they have seen or experienced duplicity among their members and leaders.

Pastors, Church leaders and members must therefore demonstrate humility, generosity and love if they are to reach out to the Nones. The church’s communal life is itself a part of its evangelistic outreach and witness.

Conclusion

The rise of the Nones does not signal a defeat of the Church but rather a summons. It challenges the Church to interrogate its self-understanding. Is our faith merely institutional, or is it deeply personal and communal? Is our community truly loving? Or is it merely comfortable?

When these questions are asked and honestly answered, the Church is challenged to embody what it proclaims and to become a community of grace and love. Then, we will discover that to effectively engage the Nones we must first renew ourselves.

Dr Roland Chia is Chew Hock Hin Professor at Trinity Theological College (Singapore).