The North American Mission Board estimates that 70 percent of the United States population, almost 200 million people, are lost; yet the Barna Research Group indicates that 85 percent of the population self-identify themselves as Christian—what gives? The truth of the matter is that there are a number of different measures of the religious composition of the United States, and it becomes necessary to understand the definitions and sources of the statistics being used.

• The 85 percent mentioned above is an example of religious preference data. This figure was derived by asking a large sample of adults “What is your religious preference?”
• The Gallup Organization collects similar statistics and estimates somewhere around 80 percent of adults consider themselves Christians.
• In a similar vein, Gallup reports that 95 percent of the population believe in God or a universal spirit, 92 percent state a specific religious preference, and 86 percent say religion is at least fairly important in their lives. So, it seems that most people are, to some extent, religious.

Assessing the Nation’s Religious Composition, full report

In April of 2001 nearly 300,000 worshipers, age 15 and older, in more than 2,000 congregations in the United States participated in the U.S. Congregational Life Survey.

• How to identify a Worshiper
  • Predominantly female (60%)
  • The average age of a worshiper in a Southern Baptist congregation is 49 years old.
  • Fifty-four percent of worshipers in Southern Baptist churches are employed full-time or part-time.
    • Twenty-three percent are retired, 10 percent are full-time homemakers, and 3 percent are students.
  • Worshipers in Southern Baptist congregations are less educated than worshipers in general.
  • Seven of 10 Southern Baptist worshipers are married—75 percent of those that are married are in their first marriage.
  • Forty-two percent of worshipers in Southern Baptist congregations indicated they were attending worship with their spouse at the time of the survey.
  • Forty-four percent of Southern Baptist worshipers have children who live with them.

 Download full Research Report, Southern Baptist Congregations and Worshipers: Supplement to A Field Guide to U.S. Congregations, by Phillip B. Jones
          
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This report examines population and population changes in the United States and compares them to the changes in Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) churches and resident membership for the years 1990 and 2000. This information is examined at the national level, by the four census regions of the country, by the nine census divisions, and by states. 

• In the South, there are 3,027 people for every Southern Baptist church.
• There are 79,048 people for every Southern Baptist church in the Northeast.