A recent poll finds U.S. church membership at an all-time low and anxiety at an all-time high.
A Gallup Poll published in mid-April found that around 50 percent of Americans self-reported as members of a church, synagogue or mosque in 2018. That’s a sharp drop from around 70% in 1999, a number that had stayed fairly steady in prior decades.
The decline matches up with the nation’s “steep increase” of “nones,” or people who don’t identify with any religion, according to Gallup.
Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research, says he believes it’s possible that some of the new “nones” were actually “nones” all along. In past generations, when people were asked about their religion, they would answer with the religion of their family even if they didn’t actually practice it.
McConnell said, “There is a level of honesty in admitting to being non-religious that cultural expectations would have prevented a couple generations ago
But he is quick to add that it isn’t just the “nones” who are dropping off in church membership, it’s the people who still self-identify as religious, too.
McConnell pointed out, “This is evidence that church membership has declined in value.”
Today as church membership is declining, something else is on the rise in its place, worry, stress, and anger. According to another recent Gallup Poll, those numbers hit all-time highs in 2018, with Americans’ Negative Experience Index at a 35, 3% points higher than it had ever been.