Poll: Why Americans Attend, Skip Church
More than half of Americans attend church at least once a month. As churches prepare to celebrate Easter on Sunday, one of the two times a year that pews are filled to capacity in many churches, a Gallup poll asked attendants just why they attend or do not attend church.
The number one reason people attend church is for spiritual growth and guidance, said 23 percent of respondents in the Gallup survey. Twenty percent of adults say they attend because it keeps them grounded/inspired.
And the top "rational" reason adults seldom or never attend church is they don't agree with organized religion or what they preach (24 percent). Among top "practical" reasons for hardly attending or missing church altogether, 21 percent said they don't have time or they don't get around to it.
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The poll split Catholics and non-Catholic Protestants – the largest two groups of churchgoers – and found that while Protestants mainly go to church for spiritual growth and guidance, Catholics are more likely to say they attend because it keeps the grounded/inspired. Catholics are also more likely to say they attend because it's their faith. For Protestants, fellowship of other members and the community plays a big part in drawing attendants regularly with 17 percent saying they attend because of fellowship. Only 3 percent of Catholics, however, go to church because of fellowship.
Fellowship is also essential for women, who reportedly attend church more frequently than men. While 16 percent of women say they attend church because of the fellowship of other members and the community, only 9 percent of men said the same. Also, 23 percent of women attend because it keeps them grounded/inspired compared to 14 percent of men.
Overall, only 13 percent of adults go to church because of fellowship.
A Gallup poll last year found attendance was highest among Evangelicals with 60 percent attending weekly or almost weekly. More conservative and evangelical denominations were more likely to have higher attendance than more traditional mainline groups. Catholics showed a 45-percent participation and Jews, 15 percent.
Among those who seldom or never attend church, 16 percent listed "Don't believe in going to church" as a rational reason for not attending; 10 percent said they are atheist or don't believe in God; and only 3 percent said the church wants or asks for too much money.
Results for the study are based on telephone interview with 1,006 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Mar. 26-29.
