[The Federalist] Church attendance is declining in America, and it spells disastrous implications for a nation that is already spiritually on edge.According to new data from Gallup, U.S. church attendance remains below pre-lockdown levels. Just 31 percent of adults surveyed this year told Gallup they had attended a church, synagogue, mosque, or temple in the last seven days. Gallup conducted the poll between May 1-24.
"In the four years before the pandemic, 2016 through 2019, an average of 34% of U.S. adults said they had attended church, synagogue, mosque or temple in the past seven days," the polling firm reported. "From 2020 to the present, the average has been 30%."
The last time church attendance reached 40 percent was in 2012.
Not only are Americans attending religious services less in the aftermath of pandemic lockdowns, but they’re reporting religion as far less important.
The Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) published a new study in May highlighting a decline in religious importance to Americans’ lives. In a survey of more than 6,600 U.S. adults across all 50 states interviewed last summer, just 16 percent said, "religion is the most important thing in their life," down from 20 percent who said the same in 2013. Last summer, 36 percent said "religion is one among many important things," down from 43 percent who said the same in 2013.