I’ve realized with regret that since I’ve become pastor of my church, I’m more concerned about people attending than I used to be. It’s not the money. A good portion of our giving is done online and we don’t pass a basket at services. I suspect I fear attendance is a measure of how people feel about me! On the plus side, it’s fun to have the room full!
Back in the day, full time attendance for most churches meant congregants being in the building 4-6 times a week. It became 3-4 times a month when Sunday and Wednesday night services mostly went away. Now for many Christians, full time attendance equals 1-2 times a month!
Thinking about this makes me wonder about Muslims in the U.S. and how often they go to the mosque. Certainly church buildings and mosques are not entirely parallel, but they do serve some similar purposes.
First, the high bar: What percentage of American Muslims go to prayers five times a day? 42%, according to a Pew Research Center survey in 2017. What would the Christian equivalent be? Five daily quiet times? That percentage is amazing to me.
Sunday services and Friday prayers are roughly similar weekly events for Christians and Muslims. How many Muslims attend Friday prayers? 45% of men, but only 13% of women. That pencils out to 35-40% of Muslims attending weekly services. For Christians, the number is about 29%. But only if you count all Christians. If you just count Protestant Evangelicals, the number bumps up to 58%! (This illustrates the statistical principle that says if you draw the circle where you want, you can get the answers you want!)
But wait a second: If you allow Mormons on the court, both Protestants and Muslims look bad: Latter Day Saints attend a weekly service at a rate of 69%
Of course this is self-reported data for all the above groups. If you want a scary dose of reality, check out this cell phone data based survey. You probably don’t want to see it! But this is for sure: It makes me glad for everyone of my people every Sunday they attend.
Special Thank you:
I’m grateful for those who gave in response to the past month’s campaign. You all donated enough to cover half the cost of one of my family member’s trip to Guatemala! Kudos and Gracie Mille!