The Ethnic Church Attendance Gap at Christian Colleges

Glanzer, P. L., Dougherty, K. D., Cockle, T. F., & Davignon, P. (2022). The ethnic church attendance gap at Christian colleges. 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/20569971221098725

Abstract

While interviewing seniors at our university, we came across a curious and disturbing trend. Students of color were less active in any local church. This !nding pushed us to ask: does this gap exist throughout Christian college campuses? We answered this question using survey data from over 800 seniors at Baylor University and a national sample of over 6000 students from 34 Council of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) insti- tutions. As suspected, many students of color on these campuses attend church less often than their white classmates, despite similarities in beliefs. We suggest some possible reasons for this gap.