Newsletter January 20, 2022

Will the Pandemic Bring About the End of Small Churches?

Daniel A. Cox

A little church on a prairie field as the sun rises over the horizon.

News about religious trends in the US is rarely upbeat. A recent exception was Bob Smietana’s article for Religion News Service in which he documented how declining service attendance has created a new category of “minichurches” that feature fewer members than you might find at a family reunion. But with fewer congregants, religious leaders are able to connect with them directly, and “relationships matter more than the spectacle of a Sunday morning.”

The numbers certainly bear this out. Most congregations in the US are small—70 percent of all congregations have memberships of less than 100 people. And many are getting smaller. The median attendance has declined every year for the last two decades. It’s now less than half of what it was 20 years ago.

Continue reading on American Storylines

Survey Reports

Daniel A. Cox, Jae Grace, Avery Shields
April 27, 2026

Strangers Next Door: The Decline of Neighborhood Socializing and the Class Divide in Belonging

Acknowledgment The American Enterprise Institute’s Survey Center on American Life is grateful to the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for its generous support of this research. As Americans spend more of their time online, the neighborhood—once a primary physical location for real-world socialization—is playing less of a central role than ever before. Since

Daniel A. Cox, Kelsey Eyre Hammond
November 20, 2025

Individuality and Moral Behavior: A Generational Divide in Moral Judgments and Self-Expression

Younger and older Americans increasingly disagree on the morality of certain behaviors, reflecting deep shifts in views about individuality, self-expression, and the role of community and faith.

Daniel A. Cox
July 2, 2025

America’s Cultural Crossroads: Enduring Discontent, Rising Disconnection, and an Uncertain Future

A new survey from the Survey Center on American Life shows Americans are changing course on major cultural issues—from immigration and gay rights to gender roles and public trust.

Daniel A. Cox, Kelsey Eyre Hammond
January 29, 2025

Romantic Recession: How Politics, Pessimism, and Anxiety Shape American Courtship

A new report by the Survey Center on American life finds that safety concerns and declining trust are reshaping modern dating, leaving many singles feeling pessimistic about their prospects. Sharp gender divides in attitudes toward dating apps, trust, and relationships reveal how these challenges are redefining the search for connection.

Will the Pandemic Bring About the End of Small Churches?

Survey Reports

Strangers Next Door: The Decline of Neighborhood Socializing and the Class Divide in Belonging

Individuality and Moral Behavior: A Generational Divide in Moral Judgments and Self-Expression

America’s Cultural Crossroads: Enduring Discontent, Rising Disconnection, and an Uncertain Future

Romantic Recession: How Politics, Pessimism, and Anxiety Shape American Courtship

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