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Church attendance crept up slightly in the United States this year, according to new Gallup research - but not everyone is buying the findings.
Slightly more than 43 percent of Americans told Gallup they attend church, synagogue or mosque weekly or almost every week, up from just under 43 percent in 2009, and about 42 percent in 2008.
Church attendance crept up slightly in the United States this year, according to new Gallup research - but not everyone is buying the findings.
Slightly more than 43 percent of Americans told Gallup they attend church, synagogue or mosque weekly or almost every week, up from just under 43 percent in 2009, and about 42 percent in 2008.
Of course, sometimes Americans say things because they think it's what the pollster wants to hear.
Great cooga-mooga! Have I just accused some of my countrymen of fabrication?
^^ This.
I've said I was a Christian when pollsters asked me. I wasn't as confident in my beliefs (or lack thereof at the time, and the area I lived in was HEAVILY Christian and you could be harassed (as I was) for not being one.
Church attendance crept up slightly in the United States this year, according to new Gallup research - but not everyone is buying the findings.
Slightly more than 43 percent of Americans told Gallup they attend church, synagogue or mosque weekly or almost every week, up from just under 43 percent in 2009, and about 42 percent in 2008.
I live in a very non-religious part of the country (liberal East coast metro area). More people go to church around here than you might expect, but many simply never go, except to the crafts fairs held at the local church or similar events.
As one tiny data point, we live right next to a small Baptist church and they get about 3-4 cars on a Sunday morning. However, Korean Presbyterians rent the church in the afternoon and they fill the entire parking lot, with lots of families and young people.
EDIT: oops! I just noticed this is a 14-year-old thread. Regular attendance is currently 31% according to Gallup.
oops! I just noticed this is a 14-year-old thread. Regular attendance is currently 31% according to Gallup.
~43% vs 31% in 14 years doesn't look so hot. And the slight increase in the OP was within the margin of error anyway. You don't usually see nice smooth bell curves, it will be a little jagged year to year at times, but the overall trend is unmistakable.
Of course this does not mean that the faith doesn't serve the needs of some healthy part of that 31% and anyone who feels that way will discount this decline as something like "getting rid of the riff-raff".
Church attendance crept up slightly in the United States this year, according to new Gallup research - but not everyone is buying the findings.
Slightly more than 43 percent of Americans told Gallup they attend church, synagogue or mosque weekly or almost every week, up from just under 43 percent in 2009, and about 42 percent in 2008.
Notice the disparity between the New England states, which polled in the low 20th percentile for people who admit to weekly church attendance, and the South, which polled above 50%. The highest was Utah, at 53%. The lowest was Vermont, at 21%.
I've been seeing articles lately about the religious revival trend among Gen Z. It's not clear whether it's a fad or a serious change that people are undergoing, but there's definitely some interesting things taking place, such as the Asbury revival a year ago at a Christian college in Kentucky. What started as a small chapel service suddenly exploded into a spiritual revival event drawing tens of thousands of mostly Gen Z visitors every day for a couple of weeks.
On Twitter there's been some debate whether what happened at Asbury was a genuine revival, or a fad that fizzled after a few days or weeks. I'm not enough of an expert to know; I'm a Jew, not a Christian, too, so maybe an evangelical Christian or someone like that who is more in the loop when it comes to youth ministry can comment. It does sound as though Gen Zers are becoming more religious, but are rejecting the organized religions of their parents. I wonder if this will translate into a different kind of church, or no church at all. Just people gathering on a weeknight or Sunday in someone's living room?
On the subject of Jews in particular, I will venture a guess/conjecture that secular Jews have become more the norm, but religious Jews who attend synagogue every week (or even twice a day as is the tradition) are also increasing in number, whereas the secular population has peaked and is in decline. It's been projected that because of high birth rates among Orthodox and Chasidic Jews, marrying young and raising families of 4-5 children among the Orthodox, 10-12 among the ultra-Orthodox/Chasidim, the religious population of Jews will increase until it becomes the majority some time late in the century.
Since religious Christians (and Mormons) tend to have large families, one might suppose that the proportion of church going Christians will also increase versus the secular population.
It would also be interesting to learn the religious practices of the enormous numbers of Hispanic migrants entering the country. I assume most of them are Catholic but it's not clear whether they are filling the Catholic pews or not. Any Catholics here care to chime in?
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at the time, and the area I lived in was HEAVILY Christian and you could be harassed (as I was) for not being one.
