Are Teenagers Skipping Church?
Diocesan Press Service. November 2, 1964 [XXVI-21]
Do more women than men attend church?
Are teenagers staying away from the church in droves?
Is the Episcopal Church a "fat-cat" church?
Answers to these and other questions were pointed to in a survey released by Executive Council's General Division of Laymen's Work during General Convention. The study, conducted over a two-year period in the New York-New Jersey, Sacramento, and Houston areas of the country, sought answers to the Episcopal Church's alleged adult "drop-out" problem.
Of the more than 600 persons interviewed, most reported that they considered the Church to be primarily a self-help or social outlet. They indicated that their interest in the Church stems mainly from selfish or social reasons.
While Episcopalians generally are considered to be among the intellectual and economically affluent in their communities, the study totally obliterated this image. One third of all Episcopal families, the study noted, earn less than $7, 000 per year; within the nation, the average family earning power is estimated at $8,151.
However, the survey stated that church attendance seems to improve with increased earnings.
On the intellectual level, researchers concluded that slightly less than half of the nation's 3 ½ million Episcopalians had ended their formal education with high school graduation.