This document summarizes statistics on religious identification and participation in the United States. It finds that around 78% of US adults identify as Christian, with Catholics making up around 24% and Protestants around 51%. Around 17% of adults identify as religiously unaffiliated. Participation levels vary significantly between religions, with Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses and historically black churches having among the highest levels of participation. Trends show younger generations are less religiously affiliated and participating than older generations.

1. Our Place In the World of Religion Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists: Adult Lifespan Faith Development “ Our Place in the World of Religion” (2008)

2. IDENTIFICATION WITH MAJOR RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS IN THE U.S. (expressed as % of U.S. adult population: ~ 228 Million)

3. IDENTIFICATION WITH RELIGIOUSLY “CHRISTIAN” SEGMENT OF U.S. ADULT POPULATION Other Christian 0.3 Orthodox 0.6 Jehovah’s Witness 0.7 Mormon 1.7 Catholic 23.9 Hist. Black Churches 6.9 Mainline Churches 18.1 Evangelical Churches 26.3 Protestant 51.3 CHRISTIAN (78.4%)

4. IDENTIFICATION WITH RELIGIOUSLY “OTHER” SEGMENT OF U.S. ADULT POPULATION * includes UUs at ~ .3) Other Faiths* 1.2 Other World Religions <0.3 Hindu 0.4 Muslim 0.6 Buddhist 0.7 Jewish 1.7 OTHER RELIGIONS (4.7%)

5. IDENTIFICATION WITH RELIGIOUSLY “UNAFFILIATED” SEGMENT OF U.S. ADULT POPULATION Don’t Know/Refused Categ. .8 Religious Unaffiliated 5.8 Secular Unaffiliated 6.3 Agnostic 2.4 Atheist 1.6 UNAFFILIATED (16.9%)

6. IDENTIFICATION WITH WORLD RELIGIONS RANKED BY NUMBER OF ADHERENTS 150,000 – 400,000 Christian Science 635,000 Unitarian Universalism 1-3 million Wicca 5 million New Age 5-6 million Confucianism 6.5 million Jehovah’s Witnesses ADHERENTS (est.) RELIGION/SECT/BELIEF SYSTEM 12.2 million Mormonism (LDS) 14 million Judaism 360 million Buddhism 900 million Hinduism 1.1 billion Atheism (includes agnostic & nonrelig.) 10 million Seventh Day Adventist 1.3 billion Islam 2 billion Christianity ADHERENTS (est.) RELIGION/SECT/ BELIEF SYSTEM

7. DYNAMICS of IDENTIFICATION WITH CATHOLIC CHURCH U.S. adults joining Catholic Church over same period, partially offsetting departures 4% U.S. adults leaving Catholic Church since childhood 11% U.S. adults identifying itself as raised Catholic 31/% Catholic share of U.S. adults, holding steady for thirty years 24% Catholics who identify themselves as immigrants 23% Immigrants entering the U.S. identifying themselves as Catholic, accounting for most of the above 4% intake 46%

8. IDENTIFICATION WITH RELIGIOUSLY “UNAFFILIATED” SEGMENT OF U.S. ADULT POPULATION Don’t Know/Refused Categ. .8 Religious Unaffiliated 5.8 Secular Unaffiliated 6.3 Agnostic 2.4 Atheist 1.6 UNAFFILIATED (16.9%)

9. UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISM AS PERCENTAGE OF U.S. POPULATION 3,000 / 1.3% 221,000 218,000 UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISM 18 million / 6% 303 million 285 million U.S. POPULATION GROWTH 2008 2001

10. PARTICIPATION LEVELS IN SELECTED RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS (U.S.) Membership as a % of Those Who Identify with a Religious Tradition Church Activities Outside Worship Prayer/Meditation Practice Attendance at Worship Services Relevance of Religion to Right and Wrong Evangelical Historically Black Churches Mormon Jehovah’s Witnesses Importance of Religious Beliefs Mainline Protestant Jewish Buddhist Unaffiliated HIGH PARTICIPATION FACTOR LOW

11. PARTICIPATION LEVELS IN SELECTED RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS (U.S.) Evangelist (74%) Unitarian Universalist (35%) Jehovah’s Witnesses (76%) Unaffiliated (22%) Mormon (92%) Buddhist (30%) Historically Black Churches (83%) Membership as a Percentage of those who Identify with a Religious Tradition. Jewish (55%) HIGH PARTICIPATION FACTOR LOW

12. PARTICIPATION LEVELS IN RELIGION (WORLDWIDE) (by developmental classification of societies) 20% 34% 52% Prayer Practice 26% 34% 64% Religious Values 22% 25% 49% Church Attendance Post-Industrial Industrial Agrarian

13. PARTICIPATION TRENDS IN RELIGION OUTSIDE THE U.S. (by % of adult population)

14. PARTICIPATION TRENDS IN RELIGION IN THE U.S. (by % of adult population)

15. FUTURE TREND SHOWN IN CORRELATIONS BETWEEN AGE AND RELIGIOUS IDENTIFICATION (U.S.)

16. FUTURE TREND SHOWN IN CORRELATIONS BETWEEN AGE AND RELIGIOUS PARTICIPATION (U.S.) 65+ Prayer Practice 18-29 65+ Attendance at Worship Services 18-29 65+ Importance of Religious Beliefs 18-29 HIGH PARTICIPATION FACTOR LOW

17. FUTURE TRENDS SHOWN IN CORRELATIONS BETWEEN AGE AND RELIGIOUS PARTICIPATION (WORLDWIDE) 35 29 47 60 + 21 23 47 30-59 15 22 49 < 30 POST INDUSTRIAL INDUSTRIAL AGRARIAN

18. PARTICIPATION LEVELS IN SELECTED RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS (U.S.) Membership as a % of Those Who Identify with a Religious Tradition Church Activities Outside Worship Prayer/Meditation Practice Attendance at Worship Services Relevance of Religion to Right and Wrong Evangelical Historically Black Churches Mormon Jehovah’s Witnesses Importance of Religious Beliefs Mainline Protestant Jewish Buddhist Unaffiliated HIGH PARTICIPATION FACTOR LOW