National Trends and Statistics
The Association of Religion Data Archives
QuickStats — U.S. Surveys on attitudes, politics, and religious beliefs, behaviors and experiences.
District Reports 2000 — 2004
Read information on your district churches, number of Sunday Schools, small group attendance, and more. [Download PDF]
100 Largest Sunday Schools
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Fastest Growing Sunday Schools
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Sunday School Statistics
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Sunday School National Trends and Statistics
Sunday School National Statistics
- Every week in the USA, 66 million people study God’s Word in Sunday School.
- Sunday School is present in some form in 94 percent of American churches.
- In a special 2000 edition of Newsweek, 81 percent of all mothers and 78 percent of all fathers said they plan to send their children to Sunday School for religious training.
- In 2001, Sunday School attendance among adults grew throughout the USA at a rate of 6 percent–the largest one-year gain in over a decade.
- In 2001, attendance among Generation X-ers grew by 10 percent–the largest single-year gain ever for that age group.
- In the Assemblies of God alone, over 120,000 Sunday School volunteers teach Bible lessons to over one million people every week.
Sunday School National Trend
The national inclination (something called postmodernism) is to look for ways to make whatever we do seem less rigid and tied to tradition. Willingness to change has become a significant value in our culture. Christian leaders know that naïve clinging to ideas and customs of the past will hinder our churches in their mission to reach the secular world. Most of them have come out in favor of changes, not in doctrine, but in music, teaching methods, religious symbols, use of technology, and styles of worship. Emphasis is on "cultural relevance," and "relationship rather than indoctrination."
In this time of transition it is not surprising that some people have gone to extremes. Sunday School is the ministry most affected by some unnecessary and even harmful changes. The good news is that many churches are already turning back to the Sunday School that gives priority to Bible teaching. People of all ages really enjoy learning. There is nothing more engaging than a Bible story presented by a competent storyteller or a lively discussion of biblical truth directed by a gifted leader. Our churches are finding that fun games and exciting videos have their place. But they can never replace dedicated, informed teachers who love people and feel called to share His Holy Word.
