According to a just-published
analysis of the 2010 Religion Census,
fewer than 50%
of Americans are "adherents" of Christianity. The percentage who would
self-identify as "Christian," regardless of church membership and
attendance patterns, is presumably higher.
The
researchers define adherents to be those with an affiliation to a
congregation including children, members and attendees who are not
members, and believe that the adherent measure is the most complete and
comparable across religious groups. Congregations are defined as groups
of people who meet regularly at a pre-announced time and location. More
than 150.6 million Christian adherents and 344,894 congregations were
reported across the country. It is noteworthy that less than 50 percent
of of the nation's population identified as Christian adherents. With
close to 15.8 million Christian adherents, California reported the
highest number of Christian adherents, whereas Vermont reported the
lowest -- only 200,000 identified as Christian adherents. Around 10
percent of the nation's Christians reside in California. With 27,248
congregations, Texas reported the highest number of congregations in a
state, whereas District of Columbia reported the lowest with 566.
The
above-linked reports offer no insight as the number of Americans who
consider themselves atheist, agnostic, anti-theist, or merely
"unchurched."
Reposted from Joe
According to a just-published analysis of the 2010 Religion Census, fewer than 50%
of Americans are "adherents" of Christianity. The percentage who would
self-identify as "Christian," regardless of church membership and
attendance patterns, is presumably higher.
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