Church Membership at an All-Time Low

For the first time, less than half of Americans belong to a church. Is this the great falling away?

In March of this year, a new Gallup poll revealed a startling statistic about Americans’ church attendance: For the first time ever, fewer than half of respondents said they belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque. Only 47 percent of the 6,000 people surveyed reported being members of a religious community. This was the first time in eight decades tha…