Adam Lynch
March 03, 2026
ALTERNET
Religion News Service writer Yonat Shimron recalls President Donald Trump actively courting Christian evangelicals during his 2024 campaign and as president in 2025.
“We’re bringing back religion in our country, and we’re bringing it back quickly and strongly,” Shimron cites Trump saying at a National Day of Prayer event last year.
Since then, “many federal departments have held prayer services or Bible studies. Trump created a task force to eradicate anti-Christian bias, and his Supreme Court appointees continue to deliver for Christian conservatives and their allies,” said Shimron.
Despite all this, a new Gallup Poll, reveals no significant change in the importance of religion to Americans. Plus, church attendance continues to plummet. The percentage of Americans who classify religion as “very important” in their lives is still flat since its 2021 report, at 47 percent.
Religious service attendance, however, reveals churches are still very much in trouble, with 57 percent of U.S. residents saying they rarely or never attend religious services. Shiron said that number was only 42 percent in 1992.
“There’s nothing here that would represent any sort of major reversal or significant change in the trajectory of religion in America,” said Ryan Burge, a political scientist who is professor of the practice at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis.
Most polled groups continue to experience declines in the percentage who considers religion “very important” in their lives. Among the biggest declines, according to surveys, was the percentage of Black Americans who fell from 85 percent to 63 percent since 2005. Democrats fell from 60 percent to 37 percent over the past two decades.
“Republicans experienced virtually no decline with 66 percent claiming religion was still very important to them — but Burge reported an important caveat to that info: Republicans’ self-reported church attendance dropped.
“They like the idea of religion — that hasn’t changed — but they don’t actually go as much. So it’s sort of like a symbolic religion,” Burge told Religion News Service.
Women’s growing indifference appears to be matching that of men. And with American youth rejecting religious service by 61 percent, Gallup predicted generational replacement leading to a “long-term trajectory of decline.”
Religion News Service writer Yonat Shimron recalls President Donald Trump actively courting Christian evangelicals during his 2024 campaign and as president in 2025.
“We’re bringing back religion in our country, and we’re bringing it back quickly and strongly,” Shimron cites Trump saying at a National Day of Prayer event last year.
Since then, “many federal departments have held prayer services or Bible studies. Trump created a task force to eradicate anti-Christian bias, and his Supreme Court appointees continue to deliver for Christian conservatives and their allies,” said Shimron.
Despite all this, a new Gallup Poll, reveals no significant change in the importance of religion to Americans. Plus, church attendance continues to plummet. The percentage of Americans who classify religion as “very important” in their lives is still flat since its 2021 report, at 47 percent.
Religious service attendance, however, reveals churches are still very much in trouble, with 57 percent of U.S. residents saying they rarely or never attend religious services. Shiron said that number was only 42 percent in 1992.
“There’s nothing here that would represent any sort of major reversal or significant change in the trajectory of religion in America,” said Ryan Burge, a political scientist who is professor of the practice at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis.
Most polled groups continue to experience declines in the percentage who considers religion “very important” in their lives. Among the biggest declines, according to surveys, was the percentage of Black Americans who fell from 85 percent to 63 percent since 2005. Democrats fell from 60 percent to 37 percent over the past two decades.
“Republicans experienced virtually no decline with 66 percent claiming religion was still very important to them — but Burge reported an important caveat to that info: Republicans’ self-reported church attendance dropped.
“They like the idea of religion — that hasn’t changed — but they don’t actually go as much. So it’s sort of like a symbolic religion,” Burge told Religion News Service.
Women’s growing indifference appears to be matching that of men. And with American youth rejecting religious service by 61 percent, Gallup predicted generational replacement leading to a “long-term trajectory of decline.”
Gallup Poll: Fewer than half of Americans say religion is 'very important' in their lives
(RNS) — President Trump said he was ‘bringing back religion,’ but the latest Gallup Poll shows no evidence of that.
(Photo by Samuel Martins/Unsplash/Creative Commons)
Yonat Shimron
March 3, 2026
(RNS) — President Donald Trump has repeatedly encouraged more religion in the public square.
“We’re bringing back religion in our country, and we’re bringing it back quickly and strongly,” Trump said at a National Day of Prayer event last year.
Many federal departments have held prayer services or Bible studies. Trump created a task force to eradicate anti-Christian bias, and his Supreme Court appointees continue to deliver for Christian conservatives and their allies.
But according to a new Gallup Poll, there’s been no significant change in the importance of religion to Americans and church attendance continues to decline.
RELATED: Defense Secretary Hegseth tests Constitution in Pentagon worship services
The percentage of Americans who say religion is “very important” in their lives has leveled off at 47% in 2025. (It’s been up or down 1 percentage point since 2021.)
Religious service attendance reveals a picture of steady decline. A majority of U.S. residents — 57% — say they rarely or never attend religious services. (By comparison, in 1992, only 42% said they rarely or never attend services.)
“Importance of Religion Among U.S. Adults, 1952-2025” (Graphic courtesy of Gallup)
“I think this is another piece of evidence about how there is no religious revival happening in America,” said Ryan Burge, a political scientist who is professor of the practice at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis. “There’s nothing here that would represent any sort of major reversal or significant change in the trajectory of religion in America.”
Most polled groups have experienced declines in the percentage who say religion is “very important” in their lives. Among the biggest declines was the percentage of Black Americans who say religion is “very important” in their lives. Between 2001 and 2005, 85% of U.S. Blacks said religion was very important, compared with 63% in 2021-2025, a whopping 22 percentage point drop over two decades.
Among the groups that experienced virtually no decline were Republicans — 66% said religion was very important to them 20 years ago and 64% of Republicans said the same last year. (Democrats fell from 60% to 37% over the past two decades.)
But Burge said that although Republicans continue to say religion is very important in their lives, their self-reported church attendance has dropped.
“They like the idea of religion — that hasn’t changed — but they don’t actually go as much,” Burge said. “So it’s sort of like a symbolic religion.”
The number of men who said religion was “very important” in their lives fell from 51% over the past 20 years to 43%, an 8 percentage point drop. Even more significant, the number of women who say religion is “very important” fell from 66% to 51% over the past two decades, a 15 percentage point drop.
That suggests the gender gap is closing. Women are still more religious than men, but the importance of religion is falling fast among females, suggesting the gender gap may eventually disappear, if trends continue.
“Importance of Religion Among U.S. Demographic Subgroups” (Graphic courtesy of Gallup)
The question about the importance of religion was based on telephone interviews conducted between May and December 2025, with a random sample of 2,019 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 states. That question had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
The finding on religious service attendance was also based on telephone interviews, this one of a far larger sample of 13,454 U.S. adults. It showed weekly attendance at religious services dropped to 31%, down from 44% in 1992.
Young adults are particularly less likely to participate in religious services, with 61% seldom or never going.
That presages a particularly gloomy prospect for religious institutions. Gallup suggested generational replacement may lead to a long-term trajectory of decline.
According to the report: “Younger adults are both less likely to identify with a religion and less likely to attend services, reshaping the nation’s religious landscape as they constitute a growing share of the population.”
(RNS) — President Trump said he was ‘bringing back religion,’ but the latest Gallup Poll shows no evidence of that.
(Photo by Samuel Martins/Unsplash/Creative Commons)
Yonat Shimron
March 3, 2026
(RNS) — President Donald Trump has repeatedly encouraged more religion in the public square.
“We’re bringing back religion in our country, and we’re bringing it back quickly and strongly,” Trump said at a National Day of Prayer event last year.
Many federal departments have held prayer services or Bible studies. Trump created a task force to eradicate anti-Christian bias, and his Supreme Court appointees continue to deliver for Christian conservatives and their allies.
But according to a new Gallup Poll, there’s been no significant change in the importance of religion to Americans and church attendance continues to decline.
RELATED: Defense Secretary Hegseth tests Constitution in Pentagon worship services
The percentage of Americans who say religion is “very important” in their lives has leveled off at 47% in 2025. (It’s been up or down 1 percentage point since 2021.)
Religious service attendance reveals a picture of steady decline. A majority of U.S. residents — 57% — say they rarely or never attend religious services. (By comparison, in 1992, only 42% said they rarely or never attend services.)
“Importance of Religion Among U.S. Adults, 1952-2025” (Graphic courtesy of Gallup)
“I think this is another piece of evidence about how there is no religious revival happening in America,” said Ryan Burge, a political scientist who is professor of the practice at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis. “There’s nothing here that would represent any sort of major reversal or significant change in the trajectory of religion in America.”
Most polled groups have experienced declines in the percentage who say religion is “very important” in their lives. Among the biggest declines was the percentage of Black Americans who say religion is “very important” in their lives. Between 2001 and 2005, 85% of U.S. Blacks said religion was very important, compared with 63% in 2021-2025, a whopping 22 percentage point drop over two decades.
Among the groups that experienced virtually no decline were Republicans — 66% said religion was very important to them 20 years ago and 64% of Republicans said the same last year. (Democrats fell from 60% to 37% over the past two decades.)
But Burge said that although Republicans continue to say religion is very important in their lives, their self-reported church attendance has dropped.
“They like the idea of religion — that hasn’t changed — but they don’t actually go as much,” Burge said. “So it’s sort of like a symbolic religion.”
The number of men who said religion was “very important” in their lives fell from 51% over the past 20 years to 43%, an 8 percentage point drop. Even more significant, the number of women who say religion is “very important” fell from 66% to 51% over the past two decades, a 15 percentage point drop.
That suggests the gender gap is closing. Women are still more religious than men, but the importance of religion is falling fast among females, suggesting the gender gap may eventually disappear, if trends continue.
“Importance of Religion Among U.S. Demographic Subgroups” (Graphic courtesy of Gallup)
The question about the importance of religion was based on telephone interviews conducted between May and December 2025, with a random sample of 2,019 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 states. That question had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
The finding on religious service attendance was also based on telephone interviews, this one of a far larger sample of 13,454 U.S. adults. It showed weekly attendance at religious services dropped to 31%, down from 44% in 1992.
Young adults are particularly less likely to participate in religious services, with 61% seldom or never going.
That presages a particularly gloomy prospect for religious institutions. Gallup suggested generational replacement may lead to a long-term trajectory of decline.
According to the report: “Younger adults are both less likely to identify with a religion and less likely to attend services, reshaping the nation’s religious landscape as they constitute a growing share of the population.”
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