The bigger the church, the more biblical it is likely to be.

That's the evidence from a Barna Group survey which found that "congregational size is related to the nature of a congregation's religious beliefs, religious behavior and demographic profile." The study found "clearly significant" differences between small and large Protestant churches in terms of adherents' theological beliefs.

From a a survey of more than 3,000 adults, "statistically significant" differences on 17 indicators of religious belief and behavior-such as whether or not the Bible is totally accurate in all the principles it teaches and church involvement-were found between churches with 100 or fewer attendees and those drawing more than 1,000.

Large church attendees were more likely to hold orthodox biblical views and "substantially" more likely to be active in their faith. Megachurch members were more likely to be registered to vote and to be registered as Republican, while small church attendees were more likely to homeschool their children.

The Barna report said that the point at which "congregational belief profiles" were most likely to diverge was at the 200-adult range. Because the study did not ask about when in life or at what kind of church respondents embraced their theological views, the results "do not mean that larger churches are more likely to provide congregants with conservative biblical views."

Source: The Barna Group

To read the full report, go to http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/289-how-faith-varies-by-church-size