{"id":12868,"date":"2016-08-23T10:00:49","date_gmt":"2016-08-23T15:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/what-do-americans-look-for-in-a-church-and-how-do-they-find-one-it-depends-in-part-on-their-age\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:18:21","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:18:21","slug":"what-do-americans-look-for-in-a-church-and-how-do-they-find-one-it-depends-in-part-on-their-age","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2016\/08\/23\/what-do-americans-look-for-in-a-church-and-how-do-they-find-one-it-depends-in-part-on-their-age\/","title":{"rendered":"What do Americans look for in a church, and how do they find one? It depends in part on their age"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">About half of all Americans have looked for a new congregation at some point in their lives. But how they have searched, and what they were seeking, has depended to some degree on their age.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright\"><a class=\"image-box\" href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2016\/08\/23\/1-the-search-for-a-new-congregation\/#for-most-personal-contact-key-to-search-for-new-house-of-worship\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-282425\"><img data-dominant-color=\"f1f1f1\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f1f1f1;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"420\" height=\"460\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2016\/08\/FT_16.08.23_congregationsAge_how420px.png?resize=420,460 420w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" class=\"wp-image-24112 not-transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2016\/08\/FT_16.08.23_congregationsAge_how420px.png\" data-attachid=\"282425\"><\/a><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Younger adults were more likely than older Americans to turn to the web or to other people when looking for a new house of worship, a new <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2016\/08\/23\/choosing-a-new-church-or-house-of-worship\">Pew Research Center study<\/a> has found. They also were <em>less<\/em> likely to prioritize religious education for children when choosing a church, possibly reflecting the fact that in recent years people have been <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/social-trends\/2010\/05\/06\/the-new-demography-of-american-motherhood\/\">waiting longer to have children<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It might not be surprising that young adults are more likely to look online for information about a congregation, given that younger Americans in general are <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/internet\/data-trend\/internet-use\/latest-stats\/\">more likely to use the internet<\/a> than older adults. Perhaps more striking are the age differences associated with seeking advice from others when choosing a church: At least three-quarters of adults under 30 talked to a congregation member (75%) or a friend (82%) as part of their search, compared with just over half (55% and 54% respectively) of people 65 or older.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><!--more--><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There were also some similarities among the age groups. For instance, across all ages, eight-in-ten or more adults say they attended a worship service as part of their search, and roughly half or slightly more talked to a clergyperson.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright\"><a class=\"image-box\" href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2016\/08\/23\/1-the-search-for-a-new-congregation\/#most-say-the-quality-of-sermons-played-an-important-role-in-their-search-for-a-new-house-of-worship\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-282426\"><img data-dominant-color=\"f1f2f1\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f1f2f1;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"420\" height=\"500\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2016\/08\/FT_16.08.23_congregationsAge_why420px.png?resize=420,500 420w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" class=\"wp-image-24116 not-transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2016\/08\/FT_16.08.23_congregationsAge_why420px.png\" data-attachid=\"282426\"><\/a><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Age-related similarities also were found in what people say were important factors in their choice of a new congregation. More than three-quarters of adults across all ages say the quality of sermons was important, although younger adults are slightly more likely to say this than older people (87% vs. 77%).<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Other commonly cited decision factors across age groups include the style of worship, a sense of feeling welcome and the physical location of the church.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the same time, younger adults are more likely than older age groups to say that having friends and family in a congregation was an important factor. About six-in-ten younger Americans say this (62%) compared with roughly half or less in older age groups.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At least three-quarters of adults under 30 talked to a congregation member or friend during their search, compared with just over half of those 65 or older.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":157,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0},"categories":[161,179,172,170],"bylines":[930],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[517],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-12868","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-beliefs-practices","category-christianity","category-religion-politics-1","category-religious-leaders-institutions","bylines-david-masci","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-religion"],"label":"Short Read","post_parent":0,"word_count":336,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2016\/08\/23\/what-do-americans-look-for-in-a-church-and-how-do-they-find-one-it-depends-in-part-on-their-age\/","art_direction":{"A1":{"id":24112,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2016\/08\/FT_16.08.23_congregationsAge_how420px.png","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2016\/08\/FT_16.08.23_congregationsAge_how420px.png?w=420&h=317&crop=1","width":420,"height":317,"chartArt":false},"A2":{"id":24112,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2016\/08\/FT_16.08.23_congregationsAge_how420px.png","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2016\/08\/FT_16.08.23_congregationsAge_how420px.png?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"A3":{"id":24112,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2016\/08\/FT_16.08.23_congregationsAge_how420px.png","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2016\/08\/FT_16.08.23_congregationsAge_how420px.png?w=194&h=110&crop=1","width":194,"height":110,"chartArt":false},"A4":{"id":24112,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2016\/08\/FT_16.08.23_congregationsAge_how420px.png","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2016\/08\/FT_16.08.23_congregationsAge_how420px.png?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"XL":{"id":24112,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2016\/08\/FT_16.08.23_congregationsAge_how420px.png","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2016\/08\/FT_16.08.23_congregationsAge_how420px.png?w=420&h=405&crop=1","width":420,"height":405,"chartArt":false},"social":{"id":24112,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2016\/08\/FT_16.08.23_congregationsAge_how420px.png","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2016\/08\/FT_16.08.23_congregationsAge_how420px.png?w=420&h=460&crop=1","width":420,"height":460,"chartArt":false}},"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[],"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"Younger adults more likely to look to web, friends to find new church","description":"At least three-quarters of adults under 30 talked to a congregation member or friend during their search, compared with just over half of those 65 or older.","og_title":"What do Americans look for in a church, and how do they find one? 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