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Newport says that if Gallup wanted to provide a "more precise" figure for church attendance, the organization would have to approach the problem differently—using multiple surveys, having respondents keep track of actual churchgoing behavior, and doing follow-up calls. He, like Hadaway, wonders if people tell pollsters what they usually do, rather than reporting actual behavior for a given week.

"I would say that we are right in saying that 4 out of every 10 Americans represent themselves as being regular churchgoers," he says. "But that does not mean that they are in church 52 weeks a year."

Bob Smietana is features editor of The Covenant Companion.

Copyright © 2006 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Hadaway and Marler's study, How Many Americans Attend Worship Each Week? An Alternative Approach to Measurement is available from the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion for a fee.

The latest Gallup poll on church attendance states the obvious. Attendance is lowest in New England and highest in the South.

The Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches has more information about its church count.

TheAmericanChurch.org has stats and facts about American churches.

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April 2006, Vol. 50, No. 4