How many persons - counting both adults and children - would you say regularly participate in the religious life of your congregation - whether or not they are officially members of your congregation? (National Congregations Study, Cumulative Dataset (1998, 2006-2007, 2012, and 2018-2019))
Each question was asked of a key informant from the congregation, such as a minister, priest, rabbi, or other staff person or leader.
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Related Topics
Demographic Patterns
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Size of Congregation (Demographic Patterns)
Size of Congregation by Political Ideology (2018-2019)
| More conservative | Right in the middle | More liberal | Missing | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 or less | 187 | 210 | 75 | 31 | 472 |
| 51-100 | 183 | 103 | 52 | 7 | 338 |
| 101-250 | 111 | 99 | 25 | 19 | 235 |
| 251-1,000 | 49 | 41 | 26 | 9 | 116 |
| More than 1,000 | 13 | 12 | 2 | 5 | 27 |
| Missing | |||||
| TOTAL | 543 | 465 | 180 | 71 | 1188 |
Size of Congregation by Region (2018-2019)
| New England or Mid-Atlantic | East North Central or West North Central | South Atlantic, East South Central or West South Central | Mountain or Pacific | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 or less | 80 | 111 | 221 | 91 | 503 |
| 51-100 | 34 | 89 | 178 | 44 | 345 |
| 101-250 | 24 | 59 | 126 | 45 | 254 |
| 251-1,000 | 22 | 35 | 46 | 22 | 125 |
| More than 1,000 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 32 |
| Missing | |||||
| TOTAL | 164 | 301 | 582 | 212 | 1259 |
Size of Congregation by Religious Tradition (2018-2019)
| Roman Catholic | White conservative, evangelical or fundamentalist | Black Protestant | White liberal or moderate | Non-Christian | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 or less | 16 | 175 | 134 | 112 | 65 | 502 |
| 51-100 | 4 | 171 | 76 | 72 | 22 | 345 |
| 101-250 | 9 | 135 | 47 | 51 | 12 | 254 |
| 251-1,000 | 31 | 50 | 8 | 27 | 8 | 124 |
| More than 1,000 | 18 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 33 |
| Missing | ||||||
| TOTAL | 78 | 538 | 266 | 264 | 112 | 1258 |
Size of Congregation by Theology (2018-2019)
| More conservative | Right in the middle | More liberal | Missing | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 or less | 236 | 162 | 62 | 42 | 460 |
| 51-100 | 184 | 120 | 36 | 5 | 340 |
| 101-250 | 145 | 72 | 22 | 14 | 239 |
| 251-1,000 | 62 | 38 | 21 | 4 | 121 |
| More than 1,000 | 18 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 32 |
| Missing | |||||
| TOTAL | 645 | 404 | 143 | 66 | 1192 |
Size of Congregation by Year of Survey
| 1998 | 2006-2007 | 2012 | 2018-2019 | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 or less | 466 | 569 | 568 | 502 | 2105 |
| 51-100 | 300 | 353 | 320 | 345 | 1318 |
| 101-250 | 276 | 367 | 274 | 253 | 1170 |
| 251-1,000 | 157 | 171 | 136 | 125 | 589 |
| More than 1,000 | 30 | 41 | 32 | 33 | 136 |
| Missing | |||||
| TOTAL | 1229 | 1501 | 1330 | 1258 | 5318 |
Notes
The National Congregations Study (NCS) dataset fills a void in the sociological study of congregations by providing data that can be used to draw a nationally aggregate picture of congregations. Thanks to innovations in sampling techniques, the 1998 NCS data was the first nationally representative sample of American congregations. Subsequent NCS waves were conducted in 2006-07, 2012, and 2018-19. The 2006-07 NCS sample includes a subset of cases that were also interviewed in 1998. The 2012 NCS includes an oversample of Hispanic congregations. The 2018-19 NCS includes a subset of congregations that also were interviewed in 2012.
