Weekly Attendance at Services Decreases

NEW YORK — The number of Americans who say they attend a church or synagogue at least weekly has declined, according to a recent Harris Poll.

Of the adults polled, 43% said they attend once a week or more, compared to 51% in a 1986 Harris Poll. The number who said they never go to church, 23%, was not a significant increase from 21% in 1986.

“It should be noted that church attendance is notoriously over-reported as a socially desirable activity, so true attendance figures are surely lower than those reported here,” said a May 23 release by Louis Harris and Associates.

It is also possible that instead of a real decline in church attendance, the poll measured an increase in people’s willingness to be candid on that subject to a stranger over the telephone. Frank discussion of personal topics has been on the upswing in the media and other walks of life in recent years.

The poll was taken April 4-7 among a nationwide random sample of 1,255 adults. Results have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.