Sadly, it turns out that Christians aren’t the only religious group experiencing low church attendance.
The percentage of American adults who regularly attend services for nearly every major religion in the U.S. is steadily decreasing. A new poll from Gallup has found that three in 10 Americans attend religious services every week (21%) or almost every week (9%). An additional 11% attend about once a month, but overall the majority seldom (25%) or never (31%) attend services.
There’s been a fairly consistent decrease in service attendance over the last 20 years across all religions in the U.S. Two decades ago, roughly 42% of U.S. adults attended religious services every week or nearly every week. A decade ago, that number dropped to 38%. Today, it is currently at 30%.
Experts argue that the decline is largely driven by the rise of “nones” — Americans with no religious affiliation — which has risen from 9% in 2000 to 28% as of this year. This is especially prevalent in young adults ages 18 to 29, who are already the least likely demographic to attend services regularly. According to Gallup, 35% of young adults say they have no religious preference, higher than the national average.
Experts also predict that this trend will continue and more and more Americans become nones. Nearly all major religious groups (with Judaism being the only exception) are experiencing a decline, and only one group — Mormons — have more than half their members still attending services regularly at 67%. Christians come in second, with 44% attending services regularly, followed by Muslims (38%) and Catholics (33%).
