Survey: Americans say church is good but dying

Although most Americans believe church is on the decline, the overwhelming majority say they find value in attending, a new LifeWay Research study shows.

The new survey reveals an upbeat attitude toward churchgoing. Two-thirds of Americans think attendance is admirable, and nearly 9 in 10 call it acceptable. Only 11 percent consider church useless.

Even nonreligious people have favorable opinions. Eighty percent of them believe church attendance is acceptable, and 43 percent label it admirable. Just 29 percent call it useless.

Yet more Americans believe the church is dying than thriving, according to the LifeWay study. Researchers asked 1,000 Americans about their views in a phone survey from Sept. 19-28, 2014.

"Americans have a much more optimistic view of the people and practice of attending church than they do of the health of the church," said Scott McConnell vice president of the Nashville-based LifeWay Research. "Church attendance is much like regular exercise and driving the speed limit. People do not live out everything they admire."

Confirming McConnell's assertion that Americans' churchgoing is at odds with their behavior, even on Easter, traditionally the best-attended Sunday of the year, large segments of the population say they don't plan to attend, previous LifeWay research has found.

And despite their professed fondness for church, Americans are more likely to believe attendance is declining (55 percent) or dying (42 percent) than growing (36 percent) or thriving (38 percent).

Their attitudes reflect the mixed trends of the past 50 years. While many mainline denominations have lost membership, some have grown. And while more people are Christian today than in 1970, Christians make up a smaller share of the burgeoning population, according to a study from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Keep reading