Index| Group | Where | Number of Adherents |
% of total pop. |
Number of congreg./ churches/ units |
Number of countries |
Year | Source | Quote/ Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| affiliated | USA | - | 34.00% | - | - | 1850 | Finke, Roger & Rodney Stark. The Churching of America, 1776-1990. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press (1992; 3rd printing 1997); pg. 55. | "...proportion belonging to churches had about doubled [since 1776], to 34% " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 16.00% | - | - | 1850 | Popenoe, David. Sociology (5th Ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. (1983); pg. 432. | "Another mark of Americans' religious orientation is membership in formal religious organizations. In 1850, only 16% of Americans belonged to organized religious denominations. By 1980, this figure had risen to 60%. Over 135 million Americans reported membership in some 209 denominations. " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 16.00% | - | - | 1850 | Popenoe, David. Sociology (5th Ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. (1983); pg. 447. | "Although 60% of the population were members of religious bodies in 1978, the comparable figure was 16% in 1850, 36% in 1900, and 49% in 1940. " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 20.00% | - | - | 1857 | Welles, Sam. The World's Great Religions, New York: Time Incorporated (1957); pg. 166. | "A century ago, in what is often recalled as a more religious age, less than one American in five held church membership. Today more than three out of five do so. " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 37.00% | - | - | 1860 | Finke, Roger & Rodney Stark. The Churching of America, 1776-1990. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press (1992; 3rd printing 1997); pg. 15. | "Figure 1.2 plots the overall trend in the rate of religious adherence for two centuries. This pattern can truly be called the churching of America... By the start of the Civil War this proportion had rise [sic] dramatically, to 37%. " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 37.00% | - | - | 1860 | Finke, Roger & Rodney Stark. The Churching of America, 1776-1990. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press (1992; 3rd printing 1997); pg. 16. | Figure 1.2: "Rates of Religious Adherence, 1776-1980 " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 20.00% | - | - | 1865 | Wuthnow, Robert. The Restructuring of American Religion: Society and Faith Since World War II, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press (1988); pg. 21-22. | "...religious membership rose even more rapidly: from less than 20 percent of the adult population at the end of the Civil War to more than 40 percent by the end of the century. " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 35.00% | - | - | 1870 | Finke, Roger & Rodney Stark. The Churching of America, 1776-1990. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press (1992; 3rd printing 1997); pg. 15. | "The immense dislocations of the [Civil] war caused a serious decline in adherence in the South, which is reflected in the overall decline to 35% in the 1870 census. " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 35.00% | - | - | 1870 | Finke, Roger & Rodney Stark. The Churching of America, 1776-1990. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press (1992; 3rd printing 1997); pg. 16. | Figure 1.2: "Rates of Religious Adherence, 1776-1980 " |
| affiliated | USA | - | - | 70,000 units |
- | 1870 | Wuthnow, Robert. The Restructuring of American Religion: Society and Faith Since World War II, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press (1988); pg. 22. | "All of this took enormous resources. Between 1870 and the end of World War !, the number of local churches grew from little more than 70,000 to over 225,000. During the same period, the number of church buildings increased from 63,000 to 203,000... " |
| affiliated | USA | 21,699,000 | - | - | - | 1890 | Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970; Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census (1975); pg. 391. | Table: "Membership of Religious Bodies, 1890 to 1970... "; This part of the table shows 2 columns: Year and "Total membership " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 45.00% | - | - | 1890 | Finke, Roger & Rodney Stark. The Churching of America, 1776-1990. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press (1992; 3rd printing 1997); pg. 16. | Figure 1.2: "Rates of Religious Adherence, 1776-1980 " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 36.00% | - | - | 1900 | Herberg, Will. Protestant-Catholic-Jew: An Essay in American Religious Sociology; Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company (1960); pg. 48. | "At the opening of the present century, church membership stood at something like 36% of the population; in 1926 when the Census of Religious Bodies established a new basis of calculation, it was above 46% " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 36.00% | - | - | 1900 | Popenoe, David. Sociology (5th Ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. (1983); pg. 447. | "Although 60% of the population were members of religious bodies in 1978, the comparable figure was 16% in 1850, 36% in 1900, and 49% in 1940. " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 40.00% | - | - | 1900 | Wuthnow, Robert. The Restructuring of American Religion: Society and Faith Since World War II, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press (1988); pg. 21-22. | "...religious membership rose even more rapidly: from less than 20 percent of the adult population at the end of the Civil War to more than 40 percent by the end of the century. " |
| affiliated | USA | 35,068,000 | - | 212,230 units |
- | 1906 | Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970; Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census (1975); pg. 391. | Table: "Church Denominations, Members, and Edifices: 1850 to 1936 "; Total adherents figure based on "Members " column; Number of units figure based on "Local organizations " column. |
| affiliated | USA | 35,068,000 | - | - | - | 1906 | Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970; Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census (1975); pg. 391. | Table: "Membership of Religious Bodies, 1890 to 1970... "; This part of the table shows 2 columns: Year and "Total membership " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 51.00% | - | - | 1906 | Finke, Roger & Rodney Stark. The Churching of America, 1776-1990. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press (1992; 3rd printing 1997); pg. 15. | "The [adherence] rate then began to rise once more, and by 1906 slightly more than half of the U.S. population was churched. " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 51.00% | - | - | 1906 | Finke, Roger & Rodney Stark. The Churching of America, 1776-1990. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press (1992; 3rd printing 1997); pg. 16. | Figure 1.2: "Rates of Religious Adherence, 1776-1980 " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 43.00% | - | - | 1910 | Ahlstrom, Sydney E. A Religious History of the American People; Yale University Press: New Haven & London (1973); pg. 952. | Table: "Church Affiliation in the Twentieth Century (Percentage of Total Population) " |
| affiliated | USA | - | - | 225,000 units |
- | 1915 | Wuthnow, Robert. The Restructuring of American Religion: Society and Faith Since World War II, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press (1988); pg. 22. | "All of this took enormous resources. Between 1870 and the end of World War !, the number of local churches grew from little more than 70,000 to over 225,000. During the same period, the number of church buildings increased from 63,000 to 203,000... " |
| affiliated | USA | 41,927,000 | - | 227,487 units |
- | 1916 | Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970; Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census (1975); pg. 391. | Table: "Church Denominations, Members, and Edifices: 1850 to 1936 "; Total adherents figure based on "Members " column; Number of units figure based on "Local organizations " column. |
| affiliated | USA | - | 53.00% | - | - | 1916 | Finke, Roger & Rodney Stark. The Churching of America, 1776-1990. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press (1992; 3rd printing 1997); pg. 16. | Figure 1.2: "Rates of Religious Adherence, 1776-1980 " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 43.00% | - | - | 1920 | Ahlstrom, Sydney E. A Religious History of the American People; Yale University Press: New Haven & London (1973); pg. 952. | Table: "Church Affiliation in the Twentieth Century (Percentage of Total Population) " |
| affiliated | USA | 54,576,000 | - | 232,154 units |
- | 1926 | Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970; Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census (1975); pg. 391. | Table: "Church Denominations, Members, and Edifices: 1850 to 1936 "; Total adherents figure based on "Members " column; Number of units figure based on "Local organizations " column. |
| affiliated | USA | 54,576,000 | - | - | - | 1926 | Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970; Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census (1975); pg. 391. | Table: "Membership of Religious Bodies, 1890 to 1970... "; This part of the table shows 2 columns: Year and "Total membership " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 56.00% | - | - | 1926 | Finke, Roger & Rodney Stark. The Churching of America, 1776-1990. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press (1992; 3rd printing 1997); pg. 15. | "Adherence rates reached 56% by 1926. Since then the rate has been rather stable although inching upwards. " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 56.00% | - | - | 1926 | Finke, Roger & Rodney Stark. The Churching of America, 1776-1990. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press (1992; 3rd printing 1997); pg. 16. | Figure 1.2: "Rates of Religious Adherence, 1776-1980 " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 46.00% | - | - | 1926 | Herberg, Will. Protestant-Catholic-Jew: An Essay in American Religious Sociology; Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company (1960); pg. 48. | "At the opening of the present century, church membership stood at something like 36% of the population; in 1926 when the Census of Religious Bodies established a new basis of calculation, it was above 46% " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 47.00% | - | - | 1930 | Ahlstrom, Sydney E. A Religious History of the American People; Yale University Press: New Haven & London (1973); pg. 952. | Table: "Church Affiliation in the Twentieth Century (Percentage of Total Population) " |
| affiliated | USA | 59,798,000 | - | - | - | 1931 | Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970; Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census (1975); pg. 391. | Table: "Membership of Religious Bodies, 1890 to 1970... "; This part of the table shows 2 columns: Year and "Total membership " |
| affiliated | USA | 60,157,000 | - | - | - | 1932 | Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970; Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census (1975); pg. 391. | Table: "Membership of Religious Bodies, 1890 to 1970... "; This part of the table shows 2 columns: Year and "Total membership " |
| affiliated | USA | 60,813,000 | - | - | - | 1933 | Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970; Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census (1975); pg. 391. | Table: "Membership of Religious Bodies, 1890 to 1970... "; This part of the table shows 2 columns: Year and "Total membership " |
| affiliated | USA | 62,007,000 | - | - | - | 1934 | Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970; Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census (1975); pg. 391. | Table: "Membership of Religious Bodies, 1890 to 1970... "; This part of the table shows 2 columns: Year and "Total membership " |
| affiliated | USA | 62,678,000 | - | - | - | 1935 | Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970; Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census (1975); pg. 391. | Table: "Membership of Religious Bodies, 1890 to 1970... "; This part of the table shows 2 columns: Year and "Total membership " |
| affiliated | USA | 55,807,000 | - | 199,302 units |
- | 1936 | Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970; Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census (1975); pg. 391. | Table: "Church Denominations, Members, and Edifices: 1850 to 1936 "; Total adherents figure based on "Members " column; Number of units figure based on "Local organizations " column. |
| affiliated | USA | 55,807,000 | - | - | - | 1936 | Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970; Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census (1975); pg. 391. | Table: "Membership of Religious Bodies, 1890 to 1970... "; This part of the table shows 2 columns: Year and "Total membership "; Report by U.S. Census Dept., based on church/congregational clerk reports, was 55,807,000, but "The Christian Herald reported 1936 membership as 63,222,000. " |
| affiliated | USA | 63,222,000 | - | - | - | 1936 | Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970; Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census (1975); pg. 391. | Table: "Membership of Religious Bodies, 1890 to 1970... "; This part of the table shows 2 columns: Year and "Total membership "; Report by U.S. Census Dept., based on church/congregational clerk reports, was 55,807,000, but "The Christian Herald reported 1936 membership as 63,222,000. " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 77.00% | - | - | 1936 | Robertson, Ian. Sociology (2nd ed.); New York, NY: Worth Publishers (1981) [2nd edition is updated since 1977 1st edition]; pg. 428. | "In the United States, for example, 67% of the population were members of (rather than merely believers in) a particular faith in 1982, down from 77% forty-six years previously. " |
| affiliated | USA | 63,848,000 | - | - | - | 1937 | Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970; Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census (1975); pg. 391. | Table: "Membership of Religious Bodies, 1890 to 1970... "; This part of the table shows 2 columns: Year and "Total membership " |
| affiliated | USA | 64,157,000 | - | - | - | 1938 | Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970; Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census (1975); pg. 391. | Table: "Membership of Religious Bodies, 1890 to 1970... "; This part of the table shows 2 columns: Year and "Total membership " |
| affiliated | USA | 64,502,000 | - | - | - | 1940 | Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970; Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census (1975); pg. 391. | Table: "Membership of Religious Bodies, 1890 to 1970... "; This part of the table shows 2 columns: Year and "Total membership " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 49.00% | - | - | 1940 | Ahlstrom, Sydney E. A Religious History of the American People; Yale University Press: New Haven & London (1973); pg. 952. | Table: "Church Affiliation in the Twentieth Century (Percentage of Total Population) " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 75.00% | - | - | 1940 | Podell, Janet (ed.). Religion in American Life; New York: H. W. Wilson Company (1987); pg. 13. | "Throughout the period of public opinion polling, from the 1940s until the mid-1960s, roughly three-quarters of the American population consistently reported they were church or synagogue members. " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 49.00% | - | - | 1940 | Popenoe, David. Sociology (5th Ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. (1983); pg. 447. | "Although 60% of the population were members of religious bodies in 1978, the comparable figure was 16% in 1850, 36% in 1900, and 49% in 1940. " |
| affiliated | USA | 68,501,000 | - | - | - | 1942 | Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970; Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census (1975); pg. 391. | Table: "Membership of Religious Bodies, 1890 to 1970... "; This part of the table shows 2 columns: Year and "Total membership " |
| affiliated | USA | 72,493,000 | - | - | - | 1944 | Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970; Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census (1975); pg. 391. | Table: "Membership of Religious Bodies, 1890 to 1970... "; This part of the table shows 2 columns: Year and "Total membership " |
| affiliated | USA | 71,700,000 | - | - | - | 1945 | Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970; Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census (1975); pg. 391. | Table: "Membership of Religious Bodies, 1890 to 1970... "; This part of the table shows 2 columns: Year and "Total membership "; For this year, "Includes only bodies with memberships over 50,000. " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 50.00% | - | - | 1945 | Chalfant, H. Paul, et al. Religion in Contemporary Society (3rd Ed.); Itasca, Illinois: F.E. Peacock Publishers (1994); pg. 165. | "By 1950, 57% of Americans were church members, up from less than 50% in the 1940s...' |
| affiliated | USA | 70,000,000 | - | - | - | 1945 | Reeves, Thomas C. Twentieth Century America: A Brief History. New York: Oxford University Press (2000); pg. 158. | "Between 1945 and 1955 church membership soared from about 70 million to over 100 million. " |
| affiliated | USA | 73,673,000 | - | - | - | 1946 | Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970; Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census (1975); pg. 391. | Table: "Membership of Religious Bodies, 1890 to 1970... "; This part of the table shows 2 columns: Year and "Total membership "; For this year, "Includes only bodies with memberships over 50,000. " |
| affiliated | USA | 77,386,000 | - | - | - | 1947 | Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970; Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census (1975); pg. 391. | Table: "Membership of Religious Bodies, 1890 to 1970... "; This part of the table shows 2 columns: Year and "Total membership " |
| affiliated | USA | 79,436,000 | - | - | - | 1948 | Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970; Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census (1975); pg. 391. | Table: "Membership of Religious Bodies, 1890 to 1970... "; This part of the table shows 2 columns: Year and "Total membership " |
| affiliated | USA | 81,862,000 | - | - | - | 1949 | Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970; Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census (1975); pg. 391. | Table: "Membership of Religious Bodies, 1890 to 1970... "; This part of the table shows 2 columns: Year and "Total membership " |
| affiliated | USA | 86,830,000 | - | - | - | 1950 | Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970; Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census (1975); pg. 391. | Table: "Membership of Religious Bodies, 1890 to 1970... "; This part of the table shows 2 columns: Year and "Total membership " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 55.00% | - | - | 1950 | Ahlstrom, Sydney E. A Religious History of the American People; Yale University Press: New Haven & London (1973); pg. 952. | Table: "Church Affiliation in the Twentieth Century (Percentage of Total Population) " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 57.00% | - | - | 1950 | Chalfant, H. Paul, et al. Religion in Contemporary Society (3rd Ed.); Itasca, Illinois: F.E. Peacock Publishers (1994); pg. 165. | "By 1950, 57% of Americans were church members... " |
| affiliated | USA | 85,319,000 | 57.00% | - | - | 1950 | Herberg, Will. Protestant-Catholic-Jew: An Essay in American Religious Sociology; Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company (1960); pg. 47. | "In 1950 total church membership was reckoned at 85,319,000, or about 57% of the total population. In 1958 it was 109,557,741, or about 63%, marking an all-time high in the nation's history. " |
| affiliated | USA | 109,557,744 | 63.00% | - | - | 1950 | Herberg, Will. Protestant-Catholic-Jew: An Essay in American Religious Sociology; Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company (1960); pg. 47. | "In 1950 total church membership was reckoned at 85,319,000, or about 57% of the total population. In 1958 it was 109,557,741, or about 63%, marking an all-time high in the nation's history. " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 59.00% | - | - | 1952 | Finke, Roger & Rodney Stark. The Churching of America, 1776-1990. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press (1992; 3rd printing 1997); pg. 16. | Figure 1.2: "Rates of Religious Adherence, 1776-1980 " |
| affiliated | USA | 74,125,464 | - | - | - | 1952 | Rosten, Leo (ed.). Religions in America; New York: Simon & Schuster (1963), 8th ed. [1st pub. in 1952. 8th ed. completely revised]; pg. 223. | Church Membership in U.S.' (Publ. by Nat'l Council of Churches,1952): Data from 114 relig. bodies, including Catholic & Jewish, (but not incl. 137 relig. bodies) revealed total membership of 74,125,462 persons in 182,856 local churches. |
| affiliated | USA | - | 59.50% | - | - | 1953 | Marty, Martin E. Pilgrims in Their Own Land: 500 Years of Religion in America. Boston: Little, Brown and Co. (1984); pg. 425. | "The 'village atheist' was disappearing. In 1953 church membership, at 53.5% of the population, reached an all-time high. " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 59.00% | - | - | 1955 | *LINK* Morin, Richard. "Keeping the Faith " in Washington Post (Jan. 12, 1998). | "Even in the 1950s, when everybody thinks family values and religion had a tighter grip on America, 59 percent of those adults interviewed by Gallup said they were church members. " |
| affiliated | USA | 100,000,000 | - | - | - | 1955 | Reeves, Thomas C. Twentieth Century America: A Brief History. New York: Oxford University Press (2000); pg. 158. | "The nation experienced a religious revival in this era. Church construction rose from $76 million in 1946 to $409 million in 1950, to more than $1 billion by the end of the decade. Between 1945 and 1955 church membership soared from about 70 million to over 100 million. In 1955 and 1958, a record 49 percent of Americans reported having attended a church or synagogue in the past week. " |
| affiliated | USA | - | 62.00% | - | - | 1956 | Ahlstrom, Sydney E. A Religious History of the American People; Yale University Press: New Haven & London (1973); pg. 952. | Table: "Church Affiliation in the Twentieth Century (Percentage of Total Population) " |
