People who don’t attend worship services often cite personal, not spiritual reasons. That’s a conclusion from a new Pew Research study.
The most often given reason why people don’t attend church is because they practice their faith in other ways.
By their own description, those who cite reasons other than a lack of belief for avoiding church are a fairly religious group. About seven-in-ten identify with a religion (including six-in-ten who are Christian), and most say religion is either “very” or “somewhat” important in their lives.
Another 23 percent cite personal preferences for keeping them away. For example, they haven’t found a house of worship they like, or they don’t like the sermons.
Still others (22 percent) name logistical reasons, like being in poor health or not having the time to go, or very important reasons for not regularly attending religious services.
Three-in-ten say they do not go to religious services because they are not believers.
Demographically, more than half of those who do not attend church for reasons other than nonbelief are women, and they tend to be older and less highly educated compared with those who do not go because of a lack of faith. Meanwhile, those who refrain from attending religious services because they are non-believers are more highly educated and largely male, young and Democrats.
The survey also asked respondents, who are church attendees.. why they go.
By far, the largest group (80 percent) say becoming “closer to God” is a very important reason they go to religious services.