The Cultural Research Center (CRC) at Arizona Christian University (ACU) was established in partnership with George Barna to produce credible research and analysis demonstrating the transformational impact of a biblical worldview on American culture.
As America navigates a period of moral and spiritual uncertainty, many individuals prioritize personal desire and subjective emotions over absolute moral truths. The CRC consistently tracks these cultural shifts, providing objective data and biblical perspectives to help guide the nation toward spiritual health. Arizona Christian University serves as an ideal base for this mission, given its commitment to educating through a biblical worldview lens. By providing actionable information to decision-makers, the CRC adds significant value to the Christian community, especially when considering recent findings on generations pandemic faith shifts.
ACU is organized around the seven mountains of cultural influence: family, faith, government, arts and entertainment, media, education, and business. The university’s goal is to prepare students to think biblically and use their skills to influence these key pillars of society. To support this, the CRC conducts annual worldview studies and tracks the development of ACU students throughout their academic careers. This research is vital for understanding contemporary challenges, such as the rise of moralistic therapeutic deism, and ensuring students are equipped to lead with conviction.
The American Worldview Inventory: 2020 report is the first major research project conducted by the Center. Our plan is to release the data through major media outlets, so the public is aware of the findings, and to also share the results with like-minded ministry partners. We have a group of about 100 different parachurch organizations nationwide who labor as cultural change agents. Their work is directly impacted by worldview realities, so this information can help them to be more strategic and effective in their ministry efforts. We will also use the results to help develop a variety of resources that will translate the research into practical applications through books, curriculum, presentations, assessments, and other tools. Of course the research will also be integrated into our classroom content at ACU, as well.
Our goal is to keep leaders informed about the people whom they have been called to lead. Pastors and other local church leaders will have access to the information through our website, by subscribing to our quarterly newsletter, and by attending various informational and training events ACU and CRC will provide. As a research entity carrying out a variety of studies about current culture and how to best integrate Christianity into our society, we will be available to answer questions from church leaders about how the insights from the research relate to their local ministry context. Also, some of the resources we create from the research—such such as worldview curricula—will be designed to help churches promote vibrant, relevant, biblical Christianity, especially among children.
Our first two studies have been focused on assessing the worldview of Americans and also of ACU students. Those studies will be repeated annually. Three other studies we have just conducted and plan to release soon relate to the 2020 election and to the prayer life of Americans. After that we plan to implement tracking studies related to each of the seven mountains of cultural influence. Those surveys will provide us with the big picture of where the U.S. stands in those critical arenas. Just as importantly, those studies will establish benchmarks against which we will compare the results of surveys in future years to determine what type of progress we are making and what new strategies may gain ground.
Learn more at CulturalResearchCenter.com.