The changing religious marketplace

Religion is more widely practiced in the United States than in any other industrialized nation in the world. The most widely publicized statistics are that 40 to 45 percent of Americans attend a religious service on a weekly basis while more than 90 percent claim to believe in a higher power. Other statistics put weekly attendance fi gures at 26 percent, monthly attendance at only 11 percent, and annual attendance at 19 percent (Harris Interactive, 2003). But even at these reduced levels, the importance of religion in America cannot be underestimated.