Deborah A. Bruce
Research Services, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
dbruce@ctr.pcusa.org

About 300,000 worshipers in over 2,000 congregations participated in the U.S. Congregational Life Survey (www.USCongregations.org) conducted by the Research Services office of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in April 2001.  Congregations were selected by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago using hyper-network sampling to be representative of congregations of all denominations and faith groups across the country.  All worshipers in each participating congregation completed a survey in worship, providing extensive data about individuals actively involved in religious life in America.  Survey topics included worshipers’ faith background and current membership, their participation in activities of the congregation, and their values regarding congregational life. 

Using data from the U.S. Congregational Life Survey, personal religious practices were compared among worshipers in different age groups (Gen Y, Gen X, Boomers, and Older Persons).  Practices examined include traditional indicators of religious life such as private prayer, Bible reading, and saying grace before meals, as well as alternative expressions of spirituality such as meditation, reading New Age books, and visiting religious Web sites.  It was hypothesized that younger worshipers would be less likely to be involved in traditional religious practices and more likely to be pursuing alternative religious practices.  Support was found for the former, but not for the latter.  Few worshipers in any age range pursue alternative practices on a regular basis.  Further, generational differences were found to be less important predictors of religious behaviors such as worship attendance and private devotions than other factors.

We contracted with the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago to identify a random sample of U.S. congregations attended by individuals who participated in the General Social Survey (GSS) in the year 2000.  All GSS participants who reported that they attended worship at least once in the prior year were asked to name the place where they worshiped.  Since the GSS involves a national random sample of individuals, congregations identified by GSS participants comprise a national random sample of congregations.  NORC researchers verified that each nominated congregation was an actual congregation and then invited each congregation to participate in the project.  Of 1,214 nominated and verified congregations, 807 agreed to participate (66%), and 434 returned completed surveys from their worshipers (36%).  (Congregations that chose not to participate gave many different reasons.)  Surveys were given in worship at the end of April 2001. Worshipers in these congregations, representing all 50 states, completed 122,287 attendee surveys, which are the primary source of the findings reported here.

For generational analyses, respondents were divided into four groups based on their self-reported year of birth:

Table 1
Where do Young People Attend?
Larger Percentages in Larger Congregations

Table 2
Where do Young People Attend?
Larger Percentages in Catholic Parishes and Conservative Protestant Churches

Table 4
Generational Differences in Congregational Activities and Experiences 

* Item answered by sub-sample of entire sample; n=1,182.

Table 6
Other Generational Differences 

* Item answered by sub-sample of entire sample; n=1,182.

Table 7
Predicting Frequency of Worship Attendance

Dependent Variable: How often do you go to worship services at this congregation?

Range 1-7, where 1=“this is my first time” and 7=“more than once a week” 

(R) = reverse scored
* p<.05
** p<.01
*** p<.001

Table 8
Predicting Frequency of Private Devotions 

Dependent Variable:              
How often do you spend time in private devotional activities (such as prayer, meditation, reading the Bible alone)?

Range 1-6, where 1=“every day or most days” and 6=“never” (R) 

(R) = reverse scored
* p<.05
** p<.01
*** p<.001