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May 2002, Volume 14, No. 5
The American Church
The May 6, 2002 “U.S. News & World Report” carried
and article entitled, “Faith in America.” 2002 adults
were polled to get their religious orientation and views on the
topic. Two thirds of those polled said religion is very important
and over half say that they attend worship at least once a week.
Much of the article talked of the diversity of religions in the
USA and of attitudes toward other religions.
Though the above article is clearly more publicized, two much
more substantial studies have taken place in recent years.
The first of these is “Faith Communities Today (FACT), A Report
on Religion in the United States Today.” This was done
by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research at Hartford Seminary.
Carl S. Dudley and David A. Roozen were primary researchers.
Over 14,000 congregations were surveyed, including 601 United Methodist
churches. Usually the congregation’s leader completed
the survey.
The FACT study found it reassuring that the great majority of
faith communities are vital and alive and that half of them see
themselves as growing in numbers, especially those using or blending
contemporary forms of worship and those located in the suburbs.
(Ed: Actually 37% of all United Methodist Churches showed membership
gains and 42% showed attendance gains in the most recent years.)
Fact also found that the faith communities in the USA are making
major contributions to the welfare of their communities through
a combination of social and spiritual ministries, and that 41 denominations
and faith groups came together to do the study, marking unprecedented
cooperation.
The Hartford study found it disturbing that many congregations
have the commitment to undertake social welfare programs –
and the space – but lack the infrastructure. The study
also showed that congregations that enact their faith without explicit
expectations for members experience less vitality and more conflict.
Furthermore congregations, to remain vital, must change but that
change can prove costly – leading to conflict that impacts
member growth, new volunteers and financial support. Finally
the study found that congregations of seminary-educated leaders,
in particular, are unready to address issues of change.
Greater detail on the Faith Communities Today study can be accessed
from the website at: http://fact.hartsem.edu/
A second major study has just been completed as part of the International
Congregational Life Survey. The US portion of this study was
done by the Lilly Endowment Inc., The Louisville Institute, and
the Research Services office of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.):
Deborah Bruce, Cynthia Woolever, Keith Wulff. This project
surveyed over 2,000 American congregations, but also surveyed 300,000
parishioners in those churches. These were people actually
in attendance on a given Sunday morning. In addition, congregational
leaders were interviewed, in conjunction with the Pew and Pulpit
research conducted by Duke University Divinity School.
The US Congregations study found that one in three worshipers
have been attending their current church for five years or less,
indicating high turnover. Average worshipers are well educated,
with 38% having at least a college degree, compared to 23% of the
general population. Worshipers are good citizens and good
neighbors, as measured by their community involvement and charitable
activities. Despite that fact that 83% of those in the pews
on Sunday are regular attenders, only 38% are involved in small
group activity in the congregation. 61% of adult attenders are women.
This difference is found in every age category, so is not
explained solely by women outliving men. Only 2 out of 100
people sitting in America’s worship services are attending
that congregation for the first time.
A United Methodist oversampling was done so that a denominational
comparison can be made. The Office of Research and Planning
of the General Council on Ministries (sister organization to GBGM
Research Office) conducted this work with 15,000 worshipers in 175
congregations. Granted this is only a small portion of the
over 8 million members and 36,000 churches, but can give a sense
of how the UMC compares across the board with other congregations.
In most categories, the Methodists varied only a few percentage
points from the national average. Some of the larger variations
follow.
In the worship arena, Methodist worshipers were three times as
likely to be bored, and one eighth as likely to experience awe or
mystery in worship. 78% of Methodists value traditional hymns
compared to the average of 61%.
With respect to involvement beyond the principal worship service,
nearly two thirds of United Methodists participate in some small
group activities, compared to an average of around half. Over half
of UMCers participate in some form of leadership activity, compared
to 38% nationally. Approximately the same proportions describe United
Methodist involvement in community services, social justice, or
advocacy activities. (Note that the national average contains a
sizeable number of Roman Catholics, who do not emphasize congregational
life to the same degree.)
The United Methodists have more smaller and less larger churches
than the national statistics. Also, within congregations the
age distribution of the sample was markedly older, with 39% of UMCers
sixty five and over, compared to 25%. For ages 45 to 64, United
Methodists were at 33%, compared to 36%. For ages 25 to 44,
Methodists were 22% versus 30%. For ages 15 to 24, the percentages
were 6% UMC, as opposed to 8% national average.
Obviously, the results noted in this brief newsletter are but
the tip of the iceberg. For more information on the United
Methodist oversampling, go to the website: http://gcom-umc.org/research/research_life_survey.shtml
For more information on the US Congregational Life Survey
(the entire national study) go to http://www.uscongregations.org
The US Congregations folks have actually published a
book describing their results entitled, “A Field Guide to U.S.
Congregations.” The website describes how to get it.
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© Copyright 2002,
Office of Research, General Board of Global Ministries
Published by
The Office of Research
General Board of Global Ministries
475 Riverside Drive, Room 300
New York, NY 10115
(212) 870-3840
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