Mission

Congregations — churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, and other local places of worship — are the basic social unit of American religious life. Nearly all collective religious activity occurs through them. They are the main context in which religious identities are forged and reinforced through education and practice. They are places of sociability and community for more than half of all Americans, locations for a wide variety of community events, and incubators of community service, artistic endeavors, and civic engagement. There is no doubt that religious congregations are significant institutions in American society. We know congregational life is changing, but it is difficult to document exactly what is changing, and how fast. 

The National Congregations Study (NCS) contributes to knowledge about American religion by collecting information from nationally representative samples of congregations about a wide range of topics, including congregations’ leadership, social composition, activities, worship practices, and programming. With information from surveys of 4,469 unique congregations conducted over a span of more than 20 years, the NCS helps us better understand many aspects of congregational life in the United States, and how congregations are changing in the 21st century.