A column of current statistics selected especially for Christian communicators
Percentage of Americans who claim membership in a church or synagogue: 69
Who believe it is important to be a church member: 84
Of Americans who ate dinner last night, the percentage who ate alone: 22
Estimated number of pages that will be faxed in the United States this year, per person: 240
Of the world’s 164 countries, the number that have safe water: 54
Percentage of parents who say they feel very comfortable discussing sex with their oldest child under 18: 59
Percentage who say they never discuss sex with their children: 14
Number of U.S. states that have more men than women: 5
Increase, since 1980, in the median income of an American, in constant dollars: $64
Increase, since 1980, in the median cost of a new home, in constant dollars: $16,170
Percentage of Americans who do not read books: 50
Percentage of Christian teenagers who say the Bible’s guidelines for sex apply today: 62
Who say they don’t: 19
Who don’t know: 19
Pounds of laundry washed by an average American family of four in one year: 2,000
Ratio of prisoners to the total U.S. population: 1:369
Ratio of ministers to the total U.S. population: 1:714
What’s a Pastor Worth?
According to a recent Gallup poll, only 26 percent of Americans believe clergy should be paid $40,000 or more per year. Yet 42 percent believe teachers should receive that level of compensation, and 48 percent say nurses should. Further, almost three times as many Americans (76 percent) believe attorneys deserve at least $40,000 annually.
-Reported in Church Law & Tax Report, 1-2/91
Shrinking and Surging Denominations
Many denominations have seen significant membership declines since 1965. United Methodists, for example, have shrunk by 18 percent during the period. Episcopalians have lost 28 percent of their members. And Presbyterians have declined in number by 31 percent.
During the same twenty-five-year period, however, other religious bodies have reported sizable growth. Among these are the Southern Baptist Convention, which has grown by 38 percent. The Church of the Nazarene has increased its membership by 61 percent. And remarkably, since 1965 the Assemblies of God has grown by 122 percent.
-Reported in U.S. News & World Report, 11/19/90
What Women Do More Than Men
Statistically speaking, women are more likely than men to do the following things:
 buy a greeting card (90 percent of such purchases are by women)
 earn a bachelor’s or master’s degree (51.9 percent of these are earned by women)
 take vitamins (39 percent of women do, compared to 27 percent of men)
 vote in presidential elections (among eligible voters in 1988, women edged men 58.3 percent to 56.4 percent)
-Reported in Time, special issue on women. Fall 1990
SOURCES – Church membership: Princeton Religion Research Center’s Emerging Trends, 2/90; The Church Today: Insightful Statistics and Commentary, Barna Research Group, 1990. Eating alone: Gallup Report No. 290, reported in American Demographics, 11/90. Fax: American Facsimile Association, reported in U.S. News & World Report, 10/2/89. Safe water: Conde Nast Traveler, reported in USA Today, 8/27/90. Facts of life: Louis Harris study for Planned Parenthood, reported in Psychology Today, 3/89. Male states: Single Adult Ministries Journal, 3/90. The states are Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, North Dakota, and Wyoming. Rising home costs: U.S. Census Bureau; National Association of Home Builders; reported in Harper’s, 1/90. Book reading: 100% American by Daniel Weiss (Poseidon Press, 1988). Bible on sex: Study by Dr. Mark Lamport, reported in The Youth Ministry Resource Book (Thorn Schultz Publications, 1988). Laundry: The Harper’s Index Book by Lewis H. Lapham, Michael Pollan, and Eric Etheridge (Henry Holt and Company, 1987). Prisoners/ministers: American Demographics, 11/90; Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor.
Leadership Spring 1991 p. 114
Copyright © 1991 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.
