Number of Church-Going Teen-Agers on the Rise : Poll: In reversal of trend, more than half of group attended weekly worship services this year. But the increase still leaves a big gap with 1989 figures.

On any given weekend this past year, half of America’s teen-agers could be found in a house of worship. That signals a reverse of a short-term trend--a drop in churchgoing by teen-agers.

Gallup youth polls show that attendance dropped to 48% of teen-agers in 1991, and then decreased even more, to 45%, in 1992.

Still, the new gain leaves a wide gap between the numbers of churchgoing teen-agers this year and in 1989, when attendance levels for the age group reached a record high of 57% in a typical week.

Attendance has averaged slightly higher than 50% since 1977, the year the Gallup Youth Survey began taking measurements. During the same period, 41% of adults reported going to a church or synagogue in a given week.

It is clear that church attendance is one of those areas in which adults tell teen-agers, “Do as I say, not as I do.” Undoubtedly, some worship is heavily influenced, if not demanded, by parents.

But a 1988 study found that a majority (61%) of teen-agers said they went to church solely because they wanted to. Twenty-four percent reported a dual reason: They wanted to go, and they knew it would please their parents.

As teen-agers grow older, they have a tendency to attend church less. Church attendance is a part of life for 54% of those between 13 and 15, but only for 44% of those 16 and older. A 1988 Gallup study of the religious practices of college students found that 34% attended church weekly. An additional 18% went at least monthly.

Historically, young people have tended to attend church less frequently during their later teen-age years, college years and early adulthood. But attendance and membership revives quickly among young adults raising families.

Among teen-agers, as among adults, women are somewhat more likely than men to attend church, by a margin of 53% to 47%.

Black teen-agers are far more likely than whites--68% to 48%--to report attendance during a given week. Young Protestants are more likely to go to church than young Roman Catholics, by a margin of 61% to 43%.

The high concentrations of young blacks and Protestants in the South may account for higher than average attendance in that region, with 60% of Southern teen-agers reporting that they go to church. Attendance in the Midwest is 49%, about the national average. Lowest attendance is found in the East and West, where 43% of teen-agers report going to church.

The findings for 1993 are based on telephone interviews conducted by the Gallup Youth Survey between March and October. The margin of error is 3 percentage points in either direction.

Churchgoing Teen-Agers

Church attendance for teen-agers seems to be making a comeback, reversing a downward trend that followed an all-time high of 57% in 1989.

Percentage of teen-agers who attend church:

1991: 48%

1992: 45%

1993: 50%

Percentage of those who attend church, by group:

Catholic: 43%

Protestant: 61%

Black: 68%

White: 48%

Sources: Findings based on telephone interviews conducted by the Gallup Youth Survey during the period of March to October, 1993, with a representative national cross section of 1,038 teen-agers, 13 through 17.