Denominational Loyalty

(From FotF's Pastor's Weekly Briefing)

A new study released this week by Ellison Research has found that, among people who attend church once a month or more, only 30 percent are completely loyal to the denomination they are currently attending (meaning they would only consider attending church within that specific denomination). Another 44 percent prefer their current denomination, but would be willing to consider others.

Eleven percent have a small number of denominations they would consider, with no particular favorite among them. Six percent don't have any particular denomination they prefer, but they do have certain ones that they would not attend. Finally, nine percent say that denomination does not factor into their decision of what church to attend.

There are relatively few demographic differences within the findings. Denominational loyalty does not vary significantly by gender, household income, age or type of community (rural/small town, suburban or urban). It does, however, vary by race/ethnicity and by region of the country.

The survey sample included those who regularly attend worship services at a church broadly considered to be within the Christian tradition. The survey also asked Americans about their loyalty to specific brands of products, services, stores, automobiles, hotels, pain relievers and airlines to see if there were any correlations in the loyalty shown to these and the loyalty shown to denominations. To see these and other additional results, visit the Ellison research Web site at http://www.ellisonresearch.com/releases/20090112.htm.