Are you going to church?

(from FotF)

Church Attendance Revisited

The results of a new study which were released this month by the Gallup Organization, reveal that members of the Church of Christ are most likely to attend worship services most often. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints came in a close second.

The research, which was based on Gallup interviews conducted between 2002 and 2005, showed that 68 percent of Church of Christ members said they attend services at least once a week, or almost every week and 67 percent of Mormons said they attend as often. When all religious bodies in the study are factored in, including Catholic and Jewish, only 33 percent said they attend religious services weekly or almost weekly.

Other research that has been done in recent years suggests that actual church attendance may differ greatly from the level of attendance that is reported to a pollster. Year after year, about 40 percent of Americans tell researchers that they attended religious services in the last seven days. Some studies, which looked into denominational membership and attendance statistics, as well as estimates of membership and attendance for independent congregations, found that actual weekly church attendance may be as low as 20 percent. Research has also shown that asking people what they did the previous weekend produces very different results than asking if they went to church. Those who see themselves as faithful church members and "weekly attenders" find it difficult to report that they did not attend services. Some believe that many studies have simply revealed what people believe they should do, rather than what actually took place when questioned about church attendance.

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