Three in 10 Americans, but 67% of Mormons, attend church regularly. Most religious groups show declines in attendance over the past two decades.

Three in 10 U.S. adults attend religious services regularly, led by Mormons at 67%

As Americans observe Ramadan and prepare to celebrate Easter and Passover, the percentage of adults who report regularly attending religious services remains low. Three in 10 Americans say they attend religious services every week (21%) or almost every week (9%), while 11% report attending about once a month and 56% seldom (25%) or never (31%) attend.

Among major U.S. religious groups, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also widely known as the Mormon Church, are the most observant, with two-thirds attending church weekly or nearly weekly. Protestants (including nondenominational Christians) rank second, with 44% attending services regularly, followed by Muslims (38%) and Catholics (33%).

Majorities of Jewish, Orthodox, Buddhist and Hindu Americans say they seldom or never attend religious services.

  • Flying Squid
    41•3 months ago

    More than you’d think. Many people base their entire social lives around their church. All of their friends go to the church. They spend a lot of time doing church activities and church events.

    And in this very lonely world, even though I’m an atheist, I can’t really blame them.

    • PennomiEnglish
      28•3 months ago

      Let’s just make a nice atheist church. “The Church of the Holy Nothing” or whatever.

    • @[email protected]
      7•3 months ago

      I’m not convinced, sounds very much like when they say if you don’t follow religious morality, how can you have any morality at all.

      There can be, and in many places there is, community, social life, sense of belonging and all that stuff outside of groups of lunatic happy clappers.

    • @[email protected]English
      6•3 months ago

      Yeah, the high school I went to required at least one semester of religious studies each year, but we had some very cool classes (like a class on cults that included looking at early Christianity through the lens of a cult), and the sociological aspects were massive. In fact, the journals relating to religion with the highest impact factor are all sociological based.

      The social component of religion is an underappreciated factor and influential over even the beliefs usually.

      All that said, I can’t fathom ever obligating myself to a pre-noon social gathering on my weekends by choice. Even Sunday ‘brunch’ was only ever attended if around 1pm.

      If rewriting the rules for church anyways, let’s at least add mimosas and have it start way later than it does.

    • @[email protected]English
      4•3 months ago

      There was partly an attempt at humor in my original comment, but Mormon services and activities in particular are long, boring, and motivate with a stick at least as much as a carrot.