Living The Worthy Life: A New Look At Bishop Sheen´s Influence In The 1950s

For some odd reason, the Fourth Great Awakening in the United States began in 1960. This was odd for many reasons but historians who claim to know what is going on here mention that 1960- the election of John Kennedy marks a major shift in the religion of the United States.  JFK was both a Democrat and a Catholic.  However, today his brand of politics is no longer alive in the Democratic Party whereas his brand of Catholicism has actually become the norm for our nation and Church.  However,  this article is about neither, it is about what took place the decade before- the greatest decade of the American Church- the 1950s.  The 1950s has to be considered the beginning of the Fourth Great Awakening and if this is the case- there is one and one person responsible for this on our earth- Bishop Fulton Sheen. 

The Third Great Awakening ran from 1855-1930.  It spanned the period of time from slavery, Civil War, Reconstruction, American Religions (Christian Science, Jehova Witness, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints -development in the West), Spanish American War, World War I, Prohibition, The Spanish Flu, and ends with the beginning of the Depression.  It was the period of time where the people of the Lost Generation were born, went to school, participated in the war, and later became the leaders of our nation.  It was also the time that the leader of the greatest evangelical minister of the history of the United States was born- Bishop Fulton Sheen.

Some say that it was someone else.  However, they were wrong for the following 14 reasons.  Bishop Sheen was responsible for changing our nation both now and forever.

1. Bishop Fulton Sheen's Life Worth Living Was The Most Popular Religious TV Show in the 1950s
2. Bishop Fulton Sheen was the only religious leader to win an Emmy and appear on the cover of Time Magazine
3. The U.S. population achieved its biggest growth in history – from 150 million in 1950 to 180 million in 1960 – as newly married young couples begot the baby boom generation.
4.  On a typical Sunday morning in the period from 1955-58, almost half of all Americans were attending church – the highest percentage in U.S. history
5. During the 1950s, nationwide church membership grew at a faster rate than the population, from 57 percent of the U.S. population in 1950 to 63.3 percent in 1960.
6.  In 1957, over 95% of Americans associated with some religious tradition, and close to 65% claimed membership in a particular group
7. During the 1950s, American religious commitment peaked
8. 84% of the Americans born from 1928-1945 attend church or identify as being a church member
9. In 1955, practicing Catholics of all age groups largely complied with their faith's weekly mass obligation. At that time, roughly three in four Catholics, regardless of their age, said they had attended church in the past week
10. 1955- 75% weekly attendance for the Catholic Church in the US was the highest in the history of the Catholic Church
11.  Bishop Sheen spoke to more than 30 million Americans each week
12. President Eisenhower was the first President to be baptized while in office
13. The United States puts, ¨In God We Trust ¨ motto on its money
14. Religious Education was at the highest percentage in the history of the Catholic Church during the 1950s.