ALL IN THE FAMILY - RELIGIOUS MOBILITY IN AMERICA

Despite recent research interest in switching among American denominations, the fact remains that the majority of church members never change denominations. Further, when Americans do switch, they often remain within the same broad denominational family. Thus, this paper examines denominational mobility (switching) with a focus on stability. The first half of the paper examines changing patterns of denominational mobility from 1973 to 1990. In summary, we found that: (1) switching, in general, has increased but switching between denominational families has not, (2) patterns of stability and net gains and losses through switching reflect broad denominational membership trends; and (3) disaffiliation remains high while rates of disaffiliation have fallen. The second half of the paper looks at correlates of stability at the individual level: why people stay or switch. The data show that consistent socialization (and marriage) within a single denominational tradition restricts switching more than any other set of factors.