Which religion goes to church the most?

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It is disappointing to see Catholicism not toward the top, but I was surprised to see the stat about Judaism. I was surprised to see that only 19% of the Jewish faith attend services regularly.
 
Christbearer03 said:
It is disappointing to see Catholicism not toward the top, but I was surprised to see the stat about Judaism. I was surprised to see that only 19% of the Jewish faith attend services regularly.
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I’m not surprised by that. I know quite a few Jewish people “in real life” and almost none of them are observant, though they still identify as Jewish.

Catholics can have a similar phenomenon going on, where to “be Catholic” has to do with an ethnic or cultural identity more than a statement about beliefs and practices. So they may never go to Mass, but they still eat grandma’s special Christmas Eve recipes, so in their mind, that’s “being Catholic.”
 
pensmama87 said:
I’m not surprised by that. I know quite a few Jewish people “in real life” and almost none of them are observant, though they still identify as Jewish.

Catholics can have a similar phenomenon going on, where to “be Catholic” has to do with an ethnic or cultural identity more than a statement about beliefs and practices. So they may never go to Mass, but they still eat grandma’s special Christmas Eve recipes, so in their mind, that’s “being Catholic.”
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It’s also interesting to note that they divided Christians into essentially “Catholic” and “not Catholic”. It looks like the “Protestant/other Christian” category would also include some very fundamental groups, where you aren’t likely to identify as being a member unless you are an active member.
 
dronald said:
Isn’t not attending Mass a mortal sin in the CC?
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Yes it is, if done without a serious reason, such as sickness or caring for a sick person etc. Many Catholics should be ashamed of themselves for being in the ones that do not attend Mass every Sunday. They need to learn about and LOVE their Catholic Faith. We need to ask our self, “Do I really want to go to Heaven”? Is anything ever more important?? Like Patrick Coffin always says, “Be a Saint, what else is there?” God Bless, Memaw
 
How does an atheist go to church? No one else wondered this when they saw the poll?
 
We also have people who go to Mass daily. How do they figure that into the equation. Most other religions don’t even have that.

👍😃
 
These numbers come from a Gallup poll.

Random phone calls, speaking to anyone over the age of 18.

My own sister might claim to be Catholic, if pressed But she hasn’t regularly attended Mass since she was 7. I have a friend that is Jewish. But never attends services and puts up a Christmas Tree, every year.

People can self identify as anything.

A better time to ask, would be as people are walking into a church. “How often are you here?”
 
casslean said:
It’s also interesting to note that they divided Christians into essentially “Catholic” and “not Catholic”. It looks like the “Protestant/other Christian” category would also include some very fundamental groups, where you aren’t likely to identify as being a member unless you are an active member.
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Right.

I do know quite a few people who identify as Christian but are essentially secular (that’s how I grew up and covers most of my family, for instance, and almost nobody is even baptized), but nobody is gung-ho about being Methodist (or evangelical, or something else) unless they actually go to church.

There’s also a lot less social stigma attached to not being a practicing Catholic. Yes, to miss Mass is grave matter, but a) a lot of cultural Catholics don’t really know that or understand it and b) we don’t really practice shunning (individual parishes might, which is still tragic, but it’s not a part of our theology the way it is in some other groups.)
 
maryjk said:
These numbers come from a Gallup poll.

Random phone calls, speaking to anyone over the age of 18.

My own sister might claim to be Catholic, if pressed But she hasn’t regularly attended Mass since she was 7. I have a friend that is Jewish. But never attends services and puts up a Christmas Tree, every year.

People can self identify as anything.

A better time to ask, would be as people are walking into a church. “How often are you here?”
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Although the numbers aren’t to our liking, this doesn’t mean they aren’t meaningless. It points to how so much of the country can be Catholic and yet not believe in many of the things the Church teaches. We won’t win any cultural wars while the majority of our brothers and sisters feel estranged from their faith.
 
RedFox0456 said:
Although the numbers aren’t to our liking, this doesn’t mean they aren’t meaningless. It points to how so much of the country can be Catholic and yet not believe in many of the things the Church teaches. We won’t win any cultural wars while the majority of our brothers and sisters feel estranged from their faith.
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I didn’t say they were meaningless.

It is only smart to know from where the numbers come. 🤷
 
KendraDZ1902 said:
I get that…that is why I wondered why they are in the poll. Because like, they don’t believe in going to church…
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“Church” may just be a catch-all term for “gathering place for like-minded people” (after all, Jews and Muslims don’t go to church, either.)

The fact that they lump “nones” and “atheists” and “agnostics” together may give room for groups like the Unitarians.
 
KendraDZ1902 said:
How does an atheist go to church? No one else wondered this when they saw the poll?
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Some atheists go to church even if they don’t believe, because of family. For example if they live in a very religious household and have to go. However, most stop attending church when they leave home.
 
JustaServant said:
Hate to tell you this.
And the winner is…

national.deseretnews.com/article/5152/which-religion-goes-to-church-the-most.html
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I don’t think the poll accurately portrays some aspects on the ground. I would love to attend weekly, unfortunately some dependents have ill health and we are unable to currently although we did do so more than weekly before our circumstances. We know at least a dozen others in the same boat.
Regarding Muslims attendance, there is no requirement in Islam to attend mosque or communal prayer - although it is considered a good thing - one can still pray alone and be considered in equally good standing.

The Protestant umbrella is so large that the evangelical/mega church weekly claims probably overwhelm the lack of attendance at mainstreams. However, these groups are also notoriously data falsifiers since a lot of people claim to attend weekly when asked but don’t in reality.

What does ‘attend weekly services’ mean to Mormons? Does house family prayer count? Only Church attendance outside the home? Does someone else’s house count?
 
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