Poll: No evidence more are going to church

PRINCETON, N.J., Dec. 17 (UPI) -- There's no evidence the worsening U.S. economy has spurred a rise in church attendance, a Gallup poll indicates.

A review of interviews conducted during the last four months showed church attendance remained steady at 42 percent of those polled, Gallup said Wednesday.

Officials of the New Jersey polling firm said they conducted the review after The New York Times recently published a story headlined, "Bad Times Draw Bigger Crowds to Churches."

The Times' story reported evangelical churches in particular had seen an increase in attendance since September while a "spot check of some large Roman Catholic parishes and mainline Protestant churches around the nation indicated attendance increases there, too."

While there might be an increase at specific churches, there is no evidence of an increase at U.S. churches overall, Gallup said.

The Gallup Poll Daily tracking survey interviewed no fewer than 1,000 U.S. adults each day by telephone during 2008, asking "How often do you attend church?" The survey had a sampling error of 1 percentage point.