Church Attendance

[Dr. Shane]

Church Attendance

The statistics and analysis in this archive come from national surveys conducted by Barna Research.

How Many

• 47% of American adults attend church in a typical weekend, not including a special event such as a wedding or a funeral. (2005)

Percentage of adults nationwide who have attended a church service in the past seven days not including a special event such as a wedding or a funeral. 2004-43% 2002-43% 2001-42% 2000-40% 1997-43% 1996-37% 1992-47% 1991-49%

• 62% of Republicans attended church in a typical weekend compared to 47% of Democrats. (2006)

• 44% of men nationwide compared with 50% of women have attended a church service, not including a special event such as a wedding or a funeral, in the past seven days. (2006)

• Married people are more likely than singles to attend church in a typical weekend: 52% versus 38% respectively. (2006)

• Blacks (52%) are the ethnic group most likely to have attended a religious service in the past week, followed by whites (49%), Hispanics (41%), and Asians (29%). (2006)

• Catholics and Protestants had virtually the same likelihood of attending church in 2006. Catholics: 2006 55% 2004 51% 2002 46% 2000 49% Protestants: 2006 58% 2004 52% 2002 53% 2000 47%

• Mosaics are least likely to attend church in a typical weekend (33%) versus Baby Busters (43%), Baby Boomers (49%), and Elders (54%). (2006)

• Attendance levels are still higher in the “Bible belt” areas – the South and Midwest – than in the Northeast and West. 54% of those in the Midwest and 51% of those in the South and attend church in a typical week, compared to 41% of those in the Northeast and 39% of those in the West. (2006)

Study of worldwide rates of religiosity, church attendance

Nigeria 89

Ireland 84*

Philippines 68

N. Ireland 58*

Puerto Rico 52

South Africa 56

Poland 55

Portugal 47*

Slovakia 47

Mexico 46

Italy 45*

Dominican Republic 44

Belgium 44*

U.S.A. 44

Turkey 43

Peru 43

India 42

Canada 38*

Brazil 36

Netherlands 35*

Venezuela 31

Uruguay 31

Austria 30*

Chile 25

Argentina 25

Britain 27*

Spain 25

Solvenia 22

Croatia 22

Hungary 21*

France 21*

Romania 20*

South Korea 14

Switzerland 16

Australia 16

Lithuania 16

W. Germany 14

Czech Republic 14*

Bulgaria 10*

Ukraine 10

Taiwan 11

Moldova 10

Georgia 10

China 9

Armenia 8

Azerbaijan 6

Serbia 7

Montenegro 7

Belarus 6

Latvia 5

Denmark 5*

Norway 5

East Germany 5

Sweden 4

Iceland 4*

Finland 4

Estonia 4

Japan 3

Russia 2

[Woody]

Notice the difference between N. Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The South has 95% Catholic. The North is about 50-50. So ... the Protestant influence is the reason for the decline in the North. The rest of Britain is only 27. Protestants in Great Britain are very passive Christians or nominal I guess would be the word.

[Dr. Shane]

We see that in the US, " Catholics and Protestants had virtually the same likelihood of attending church in 2006."

[Woody]

Yes Shane. But the Irish are a total different breed!!! Look at the low % of those in Great Britain that attend church compared to the US. And the high % in Eire.

[Dr. Shane]

Interesting that the US rate is nearly the same as the Mexico rate and yet the Adventist church is growing so fast in Mexico but not in the US. That seems to say something about the church in the US, doesn't it?

[Kountzer]

lies, Big lies, and stats....

[Dr. Shane]

Well, in my business statistics class I learned that statistics don't lie. However there are a million ways to interpret them and they don't always say what we thing they say.

[Guest charis]

Well, in my business statistics class I learned that statistics don't lie. However there are a million ways to interpret them and they don't always say what we thing they say.

I agree. And also, statistics on any topic will vary according to the sampling. Unless your sample is really 100% of the population of whatever your topic is, the statistics are never going to be an accurate representation of the truth. It might come close.....but it might not.

Famous case of statistics being wrong:

[Dr. Shane]

Actually the Trueman victory was not an example of statistics being wrong. The vast majority of Americans wanted Dewey to win. However two things played into the Trueman victory. Many Dewey supporters were overconfident and did not feel they needed to go out to the polls while Trueman supporters were so concerned they all went out to the polls. The second thing was that the statistics did not distinguish between registered voters, unregistered citizens and those registered not intending to vote. Because of those two big flaws, we run political campaign much different now which always includes a big get-out-the-vote.