Rasmussen Reports released the results of a September survey of 1,155 US adults, gauging the religious habits of Americans. 69% of respondents stated they were religious, an increase from the 57% Rasmussen received from a June 2021 poll. The number of Americans who consider religion important to their daily lives was at 61%, with 31% saying it was very important. It also found that about a third of respondents attended religious services at least once a month, with 15% saying they attended weekly. 41% stated they attended religious services seldom or almost never. There were also differences based on political party, with Democrats (23%) and unaffiliated voters (29%) being more likely to say they are not religious as compared to Republicans (9%). Republicans were also more likely to attend services weekly (29%) than unaffiliated (19%) and Democrats (16%). Overall, 42% of respondents stated they believed America would be better off if more people attended religious services regularly.

The decline of religion in America, particularly Christianity, has been a growing source of concern for the faithful. A Pew Research Center analysis suggested that US Christianity could lose majority status by 2045. The decline has been particularly strong in young Americans, with Millennials and Gen Z being less religious than previous generations. Church attendance has been slow to regain pre-Covid numbers. From September 2021 to March 2022, the number of Americans that had returned to church since the start of the Covid pandemic had only risen 3%, from 64% to 67%, an indication that most church goers have already returned. However, Christianity Today did report in its October issue that the number of Millennials attending church had increased from before the pandemic. Per the report, “More millennials attend church weekly now than before the start of the pandemic. According to a Barna group survey of 13,000 adults, roughly 16 percent of regular churchgoers have not returned to services at all in 2022, but weekly attendance among those born between 1981 and 1996 has risen from 21 percent to 39 percent this year.” The report theorized that part of the increase could be due to the fact that millennials, who are now at parenting age, are beginning to attend more as they have young children, a demographic that commonly attends church more.

Despite record lows in the United States, Christianity continues to expand in countries in Latin America and Africa. According to a Pew Research report in 2018, 60% of Christians in all African countries surveyed attended church at least weekly. Two thirds of Christians in Guatemala, Honduras, and Paraguay said the same. African countries continue to rank in the fastest growing Christian nations, despite persecution. Researchers analyzed the growth saying, “In these (harsh) environments, Christians do not have the luxury of becoming complacent. On one hand, pluralism means that Christianity must actively compete with other faith traditions in order to gain and maintain adherents. On the other hand, persecution can, paradoxically, sometimes strengthen Christianity by deepening attachments to faith and reinforcing solidarity among Christians.”