Churches in USA more diverse, informal than a decade ago

Worship services may still be the USA's most segregated hour, but fewer congregations are now completely white, finds a study comparing churches, synagogues and mosques last year with a decade ago.

The National Congregations Study says 14% of primarily white congregations reported no minorities in their midst last year, compared with 20% in 1998.

Such steep change in a short period is noteworthy because "religious traditions and organizations are widely considered to be remarkably resistant to change," says sociology professor Mark Chaves of Duke University School of Divinity, the lead researcher. "There's movement in the right direction."

The study, in the journal Sociology of Religion, compared 1,505 congregations in 2006-07 with 1,234 in 1998. It was based on surveys by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. Margin of error was plus or minus 2.5 percentage points for the 2006-07 data and 3 percentage points for 1998 data.

The increase in diversity is only among primarily white churches; majority black churches are as segregated as ever, Chaves says. Among primarily white congregations, the number reporting at least some blacks rose from 27% in 1998 to 36% in 2006-07; those reporting at least some Hispanics rose from 24% to 32%. …