Sixty-Eight Percent | Articles | Resources

Good news! We’re number 1! No, I’m not talking about either the A.P. or the USA Today polls. I am referring to a study done by the Gallup Poll from 2002 to 2005. During that period they polled some 11,000 people about their attendance at worship, and found that those who identified themselves as members of the churches of Christ had the highest percentage of people saying that they attended at least one worship service each week. The 123 people identified with the churches of Christ indicated that 68% could be counted on to be present for at least one service each week (Christian Chronicle, May 2006).

Other religious groups included in the poll, along with their attendance averages were as follows:

Mormons—67%

Pentecostal—66%

Southern Baptist—60%

Catholic—45%

Methodist—44%

Presbyterian—44%

Lutheran—43%

Episcopal—32%

As you can see, we can rejoice that we were number one. That’s the good news. But what is the bad news, you ask? The bad news is that if 68% of those polled indicated they could be counted on for at least one worship service a week, that means that we were just one percentage point away from saying that a third of our members can’t be counted on for even one service in a week. And we also must realize that church attendance is one of those things that people answering pollsters tend to “fudge” a bit. That 68% figure is no doubt higher than the actual figure.

Something that has always mystified me is the question, “Why don’t God’s people want to meet for the worship, fellowship, and mutual edification He offers us?”

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).