That's the percentage of Americans belonging. I thought it would be considerably higher but trends show a big decline.
I would venture to write that a major portion of believers do not commit to a specific place of worship by becoming a member.
Conversely, there are lots of "members" who have not set foot in the facility in years. In many churches, those people greatly outnumber the regular attendees. And they may be attending elsewhere and just not gone through the transfer process. Personally, I loathe the concept of "belonging" to a church. It smacks of misplaced allegiance.
That's been a huge concern, even in the rural church I go to where a huge chunk of the congregation is related to each other one way or another and have been attending services there since they were born. Once people fall out of the habit, what percentage won't ever pick it back up? Like every human institution, churches lose their purity over time. I get the sense that people still have their faith, and that some number who worship might not be inclined to set foot in such an organized institution. The Methodist church has imposed weekly reporting mandates that treat its congregants in a highly reductionist corporate manner. And there are other things going on here. An occasional burning off of the crops is necessary for the health of the soil. Personally, if I could find a decent Bible study class that meets in the corner of a coffee shop or in someone's home (as I suspect that many do), I would be more inclined to attend such an engaged activity than continue the passive event known as Sunday church services with its attendant "gotta pay our bills" needs (excepting that my church is directly engaged in helping the community as a key focus, and I would not give that up.) Back to the direct topic: it's a poll. It says whatever its funder wants it to say.