ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews literature about the state of church-oriented religion in contemporary society. Rural areas tend to be more religious in this sense than urban areas, women tend to be more religious than men, and older people more so than younger ones. European societies tend to be less religious overall than the American society, whose church religions are characterized, in part, by ethnic differentiation and a leveling of doctrinal differences. Against the backdrop of secularization theory, the coexistence of vibrant church religiosity and modernization in America seems puzzling. This can be explained with regard to secular functions taken up by American churches, which become more modern, whereas European churches are pushed to the periphery of modern life. The chapter concludes that besides these tendencies, a new form of religion may be in the making that has little to nothing to do with church religion at all.
