- Oct 17, 2011
- 33,599
- 36,918
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Atheist
- Marital Status
- Legal Union (Other)
Executive Summary
This report examines how well major faith traditions retain their members, the reasons people disaffiliate, and the reasons people attend religious services. Additionally, this report considers how atheists and agnostics differ from those who say they are “nothing in particular.” Finally, it analyzes the prevalence of charismatic elements as well as prophecy and prosperity theology in American churches and the role of charismatic Christianity in today’s Republican Party.“Unaffiliated” is the only major religious category experiencing growth.
- Around one-quarter of Americans (26%) identify as religiously unaffiliated in 2023, a 5 percentage point increase from 21% in 2013.
- While the percentage of Americans who describe themselves as “nothing in particular” is similar to a decade ago (16% in 2013 to 17% in 2023), the numbers of both atheists and agnostics have doubled since 2013 (from 2% to 4% and from 2% to 5%, respectively).
While most disaffiliate because they stop believing, religious teachings on the LGBTQ community and clergy sexual abuse now play a more prominent role.
Most unaffiliated Americans are not looking for a religious or spiritual home.
Exploring the prevalence of charismatic elements in American churches.
- Half of American churchgoers say they have received a definitive answer to a specific prayer (50%), nearly four in ten say the “Spirit” has empowered them or someone else to do a specific task (39%), three in ten say they have received a direct revelation from God (29%) or witnessed divine healing of an injury or illness (27%), and roughly two in ten have seen people speaking in tongues (21%) in the past year.
- Republican Christian nationalists are significantly more likely than non-Christian nationalist Republicans to have witnessed or experienced at least three charismatic events in the past year.