2014/12/01 by Mark Chaves, Shawna L. Anderson · 2 citations
Social Sciences · Psychology · #Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology #Religion and Society Interactions #LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/jssr.12151
openalex publication_date 2014/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
The third wave of the National Congregations Study (NCS‐III) was conducted in 2012. The 2012 General Social Survey asked respondents who attend religious services to name their religious congregation, producing a nationally representative cross‐section of congregations from across the religious spectrum. Data about these congregations were collected via a 50‐minute interview with one key informant from 1,331 congregations. Information was gathered about multiple aspects of congregations’ social composition, structure, activities, and programming. Approximately two‐thirds of the NCS‐III questionnaire replicates items from 1998 or 2006–2007 NCS waves. Each congregation was geocoded, and selected data from the 2010 U.S. Census or American Community Survey have been appended. We describe NCS‐III methodology and use the cumulative NCS dataset (containing 4,071 cases) to describe five trends: more ethnic diversity, greater acceptance of gays and lesbians, increasingly informal worship styles, declining size (but not from the perspective of the average attendee), and declining denominational affiliation.