Some people have been told that church statistics are the same as those who don't attend church. For those of us who frequent church (weekly), this is discouraging. However, it's not true!! The statistics are actually encouraging!
I did a bit of investigating for myself because, being the logical person I am, I don't generally like to accept statistics on a once-heard basis. I prefer to see stuff written down instead of hearing it in a sermon. I looked up statistics mainly on divorce, since this is such a hugely controversial topic for many people, and one that the church focuses on (or should focus on!) a lot.
I can tell you that 48% of all non-Christians get divorced, while only 32% of all frequent Christians get divorced. Frequent is attending church at least about once a week or more. This data comes from the General Social Survey (GSS, 2000-2004)—one of the best known sources of sociological data.
For more information, and a few more statistics about other religions and Christians who don't attend church, Bradley Wright did a pretty concise analysis, and also comments on why some people may be getting mis-informed from a well publicized study by George Barna. Check out his blog post here.
By the way, if anyone wants to know, because it took me a while to find: According to the 2006 New Zealand Census, 53% of New Zealanders show a relation to some kind of Christian denomination. BUT it's a common belief that only about 5% of those Christians are living a full and satisfied life keeping God top priority, and growing spiritually because of that.
