What role does religion play in the world today? Do people
attend religious services on a regular basis? Gallup data collected
in the United States, Canada and Great Britain suggest that at
least in these countries, a majority do not. Most people affiliate
themselves with a particular religious group, but attending
religious services is often not a priority.
Church Attendance
While a majority of Americans affiliate themselves with an
organized religion, less than half (44%) said that they attended
church or synagogue in the past week in a March 2002 survey*. In
May 2001**, less than a third of Canadians (31%) said they attended
a place of worship in the past seven days.
While the religious service attendance numbers have remained
fairly consistent over the past several decades in the United
States, the number of Canadians saying they attended services in
the past seven days has dropped dramatically from 50 years ago; 58%
of Canadians responded affirmatively to this question in 1955.
In the United States and Great Britain, respondents were also
asked how often they attend church. In an Oct. 3-6 survey***, 31%
of Americans said they attend church or synagogue at least once a
week (12% say they attend almost every week), while in a 1999
survey****, 12% of British residents said they attend church more
or less every Sunday. (The difference between the British and
American responses could be partially explained by question
wording: the British question only asked about church attendance,
and did not mention other types of religious institutions.)
Slightly more than a quarter (28%) of Americans report that they
"seldom" attend church or synagogue; while 16% say they "never"
attend. In Britain, 25% of residents said they only attend church
for christenings, funerals and weddings, while 17% said they very
seldom or never attend.
Regional Differences
In the United States, residents of the traditional "Bible Belt"
areas, the South (36%) and the Midwest (33%), are more likely than
Easterners (26%) or Westerners (24%) to say they attend services
once a week.
Regarding regional differences in church attendance in Canada,
residents of the Atlantic provinces (42%) are the most likely to
say that they have attended a place of worship in the last seven
days, while residents of Quebec (26%) are the least likely.
Church Attendance Passé With Today's Youth?
In all three countries, older residents are much more likely to
attend religious services than are their younger counterparts.
Nearly twice as many Americans aged 65 and older attend church or
synagogue at least once a week as those between the ages of 18 and
29 -- 46% to 24%, respectively.
In Canada, 46% of senior citizens aged 65 and older have
attended religious services in the past week, compared to 37% of
those between 50 and 64, and about a quarter for each of the
younger age categories.
While a quarter of senior citizens in Great Britain said they
attend church more or less every Sunday, only 1% of people aged 16
to 24 claimed the same.
Key Points
Attending religious services is not a consistent habit for the
majority of citizens in three of the most developed countries in
the world. Al Winseman, D.Min., Gallup's Global Practice Leader for
Faith Communities, suggests this downward trend may be connected to
a "failure of uniting movements." He observes, "The United Church
of Canada has brought together most of the traditionally
‘mainline' denominations into one ‘super denomination'
and attendance has declined in the past 50 years. And while
attendance has remained fairly steady in the United States over
that time, the denominations in the United States that have gone
through mergers [the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United
Brethren merged in 1968 to become the United Methodist Church] have
declined -- it is the emergence of new independent congregations
and new denominational movements that have gained. Diversity is a
strength, not a weakness, of religious expression."
*Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,009 U.S.
adults, aged 18 and older, conducted March 18-20, 2002. For results
based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95%
confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is
±3%.
**Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,017 Canadian
adults, aged 18 and older, conducted May 24-30, 2001. For results
based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95%
confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is
±3%.
***Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,502 U.S.
adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Oct. 3-6, 2002. For results
based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95%
confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is
±3%.
****Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,013 British
adults, conducted Nov. 11-18, 1999. For results based on the total
sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the
maximum margin of sampling error is ±4%.
