Pew Research is the world’s biggest ‘fact tank’ on religious statistics. They explain words like;

• Affiliation
• Denomination
• Religious tradition

Pew do that far more accurately and completely than we do. In a 143 page downloadable report they summarize the main US trend under this heading: American Protestantism: Diverse, Fragmented and Declining in Number.

That gives us the overall picture.

Roman Catholic numbers in the US have a slightly different fate – as white Americans vacate Catholic pews, Spanish immigrants refill them. Among Protestants, the bad news is;

• 4 in 10 Baptists have left.
• 4 in 8 Methodists have left.

To sum up, the dechurched are the fastest growing section in Christendom in the U.S.A.  Whether they are unaffiliated, or claim no religion, or shifted elsewhere, at least 20% of Americans left the church they were brought up in, and religious items in the church and liturgy are really popular.

Liturgical items are simply the regular everyday objects like priest vestments which give the liturgy its emphasis and purpose. Liturgical items are very personal and represent the personality of the celebrant. They can help to promote spirituality and prayer while at the same time serving a practical purpose as well.

Out of a national population of 310,000,000, that is over 60,000,000 Americans.