{"id":8721,"date":"2021-10-21T11:59:33","date_gmt":"2021-10-21T16:59:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/black-adults-in-the-u-s-south-more-likely-than-those-in-other-regions-to-attend-a-black-congregation\/"},"modified":"2025-04-23T23:56:30","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T03:56:30","slug":"black-adults-in-the-u-s-south-more-likely-than-those-in-other-regions-to-attend-a-black-congregation","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2021\/10\/21\/black-adults-in-the-u-s-south-more-likely-than-those-in-other-regions-to-attend-a-black-congregation\/","title":{"rendered":"Black adults in the U.S. South more likely than those in other regions to attend a Black congregation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Worship habits among Black Christians in the South, where African American churches date back to the 1770s<\/a>, have long differed from practices of Black Americans in other parts of the United States. Contrasting styles of worship were a source of tension after the Civil War<\/a> and during mass migrations<\/a> of Southern Black people to Northern cities, when Black Northerners objected to expressive forms of worship that were common in the South, such as dancing in church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Today, there are few regional differences among Black Americans when it comes to worship styles, but Black Southerners diverge from other Black Americans \u2013 especially Northeasterners and Westerners \u2013 in other ways when it comes to religion, according to a recent Pew Research Center report<\/a> based on a survey of 8,660 Black U.S. adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, Black Southerners are more likely than Black Americans living elsewhere to be part of a Black congregation (where all or most attendees and clergy are Black). In the Southern U.S., roughly two-thirds of Black adults who attend religious services at least a few times a year (65%) say they worship at a Black congregation. That\u2019s slightly higher than the share of Black adults in the Midwest (60%) who say they go to a Black congregation, and much higher than the shares in the Northeast (52%) and West (38%) who say this.<\/p>\n\n\n

How we did this<\/div>