Poll finds less than half of Americans belong to religious congregation
Membership in houses of worship, whether it s a mosque, synagogue, or church, dropped below 50% for the first time since Gallup started polling for information. Author: Rob Hackford (WGRZ) Updated: 5:17 PM EDT April 2, 2021
Americans membership in houses of worship whether a mosque, synagogue, or church dropped to 47 percent for the first time in the analytics company s eight decades of tracking. In many ways, it s not surprising. It fits the pattern that we ve seen in the last years, said Jonathan Lawrence an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Canisius College. Typically, younger people don t feel as connected to their religious organizations, he added, compared with 58 percent of Baby Boomers and 50 percent of Generation X, those aged 41 to 56. The Gallup survey found that only 36 percent of millennials had a defined membership.