Americans' Religiosity Not Impacted by Recession

By Audrey Barrick|Christian Post Reporter

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Church attendance in the United States has hardly shifted since the economy went south, recent surveys show.

In the latest Gallup Poll findings, there have been no significant changes in the percentages of Americans who report attending church weekly or who say religion is important in their daily lives.

"It is not an unreasonable conjecture that the current recession would cause Americans to increasingly turn to religion as a surcease from their economic or personal sorrow. But that does not appear to be the case," according to the Gallup report, released Monday.

In March 2009, 42 percent of Americans said they attend church, synagogue, or mosque weekly or almost every week, a drop from 46 percent last December and hardly a jump from 41 percent in March 2008.

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life had similar findings.

A Pew Forum analysis of polls by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press showed earlier this month that there has been no increase in weekly worship service attendance despite the drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

According to Pew data, in January only 39 percent reported attending worship service at least weekly. In January 2007, when the Dow was nearly twice as high as it is now, the percentage of weekly attendants was exactly the same at 39 percent.

Although the recession has not evidently impacted church attendance, the Gallup organization was not quick to conclude that the slow economy did not affect the religiosity of Americans.

Americans could be praying more often or those who are already religious may be more intense in their religious commitment now, the Gallup report pointed out.

Results from the Gallup Poll are based on telephone interviews with 428,516 national adults, conducted January 2008 through March 15, 2009 as part of Gallup Poll Daily tracking.

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Cheisa »

Thu Apr 23, 2009 11:00 am Agree: 0 Disagree: 0

Chaplain Michael, give us that old time religion! I know what you mean about being confortable in your congregation, knowing your congregation and being involved with them and the church in many aspects of your life.

My parish as a young man was in a working class neighborhood in a major city. Most of the congregation were neighbors, classmates, rivals from the school down the block and people we may not have known, personally, that were familiar faces who worked in the neighborhood. You can't know everybody.

We'd always know the people at Sunday Mass, at CYO meetings, church event planning meetings. They were the same folks we'd meet walking from the supermarket, sitting in the barber shop or riding on the bus heading downtown. It was a close knit community and that was reflected in the congregation. Like you we had priests that made home visits, tended to our elderly and sick and were part of the fabric of the neighborhood and our lives. When I moved away to the other end of the state, I was amazed to see one of my parish priests at my grandfather's funeral. I hadn't been in contact with my old parish in almost 30 years, but there he was, still serving us alumni parishioners. He remembered our family. That's the kind of practicing of Christ's love that we knew.
Cheisa »

Thu Apr 23, 2009 10:47 am Agree: 0 Disagree: 0

Jesus and religion are inseparable. If you belong to a church and calls yourself Christian, you are part of a religion. Jesus is the source all the "do's and don't's", a moral code of behavior that believers follow. Philosophers call it ethics, but it's the system that guides us to live good lives.
shooter38 »

Wed Mar 25, 2009 9:11 am Agree: 0 Disagree: 0

"what do you hear most of the time with christianity, too much don't & do's in order to satisfy a god who cannot be satified. this endless list of sacrifice so god will 'bless' you. that is why christianity is defined as religion"

Mike: My point exactly, that is why I said America needs Jesus not religion.
mike »

Tue Mar 24, 2009 4:53 pm Agree: 0 Disagree: 1

to shooter

what do you hear most of the time with christianity, too much don't & do's in order to satisfy a god who cannot be satified. this endless list of sacrifice so god will 'bless' you. that is why christianity is defined as religion

to chaplainmichaels

what kind of answer do you get during when people are going through 'tough times?' the messengers of god will say it is because of 'sin' or there is 'sin' in your life or 'you lack faith'. there seems to be too much blame, shame, guilt & fear coming from the 'church' when people are going through to tough times. thanks a lot.
by the way mr chaplainmichaels if you are not concerned with the wants of wordly concerns, then I hope you deny yourself & give your 'wordly' materials who needs them. i guess you don't deal with politics at work, economic struggles & other stress that comes with a job.
stevekerp »

Mon Mar 23, 2009 4:23 pm Agree: 1 Disagree: 0

"Church-as-we-know-it" is part of the PROBLEM. How much "prosperity gospel" and "feelgood religion" can we tolerate? As to addressing the real underlying problem, many of the "churches" (actually 501-c-3 corporations) have already demonstrated their irrelevance. The reason attendance hasn't changed can be read in Frank Viola's "Pagan Christianity." The real church continues to grow; the visible organizational church continues to charge toward the margins.
useranon »

Mon Mar 23, 2009 2:56 pm Agree: 1 Disagree: 0

I would not take church attendance as a measure of how people are turning to God during times of crisis. Nor should it be. Praying, individual meditation etc are the actual measures. People can turn and do turn to God especially in times of crisis.
But as for going to church, finding a church one is comfortable in may be daunting. A person may not agree with the church doctrine, may not be comfortable with politics being preached especially if one's political beliefs are different. The church has long ceased to be just a place of worship anymore. It has become either a non-personal worship experience due to huge congregations in the thousands or has become a place where politics and power seem to more important than actual worship. Where culture wars seem more important than just worshipping the Lord.
I was one of those people who church hopped for all the above reasons. For several years I had no church because I was tired of doing so. I never stopped praying, reading the bible, praying with my family or meditating on the word of God through books and podcasts of messages. The internet has a lot of resources and a family can really take advantage of it. We had more of an intimate experience and we grew as a family because of it. I nourished myself and my family thus until we found a church we were comfortable in. Small, intimate, home visits, actual sermons, no powerpoints, where we knew the families and socialized with them, not just nod to them on Sundays like in my native country.
I am sure there are many who are turning more towards God both individually and as families during these perilous times. But if going to church is a measure of that, then there may not be an accurate read on that because worshipping God and turning to Him can be done anywhere, in any place, any time. Not just in church.
chaplainmichael »

Mon Mar 23, 2009 11:40 am Agree: 2 Disagree: 0

This report is disturbing. People should seek The Word of God not just in economical tough times or when things are not going well, but ALWAYS. As a chaplain i would expect people to attend some type of worship weekly, and prayer daily, for each day is granted to us not just to be expected. In addition, people are hypocrites in that if they say they are (Christians) religious, worshipers of God, seekers of the Holy Word; how come it seems they pray only when it's to their advantage to do so. I pray for the glorious things He does for me on a daily basis.
Prayer is not meant to focus on want's, desire's or worldly concerns. Worship is meant to praise God for providing us our needs, for giving us another day to seek out the good in all he GIVES us, and to bring the message to at least others who yet need to know God loves them and cares for all of us. As I spread the message I occasionally get those who scoff and say "If he loves us so much, why....?" All I can say is We need to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and that the problems of the world are caused by evil forces at play, wanting those who don't believe to blame God. Keeping faith now is the true test of our internal spirit working to and for God.
shooter38 »

Mon Mar 23, 2009 10:18 am Agree: 5 Disagree: 1

"the current recession would cause Americans to increasingly turn to religion"

Americans need Jesus not religion, it is not one and the same!

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