--- description: Most members of the U.S. Congress describe themselves as Christian title: Members of U.S. Congress Are Overwhelmingly Christian, Study Finds image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt814621e0a31b07e8/6988b448428a9ee7a2cd55fe/congress-religion.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Congress](/tag/congress/) ## Congress Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Members of U.S. Congress Are Overwhelmingly Christian, Study Finds by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jan 3, 2017 6:36 PM CUT by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jan 3, 2017 6:36 PM CUT Most members of the U.S. Congress describe themselves as Christian, despite the declining number of adults in America who identify as Christian, according to a new [Pew Research Center study](http://www.pewforum.org/2017/01/03/faith-on-the-hill-115/?utm%5Fsource=adaptivemailer&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=17-01-03%20faith%20hill%20immediate%20release&org=982&lvl=100&ite=673&lea=127770&ctr=0&par=1&trk= "undefined"). The study finds that 91% of lawmakers serving the 115th Congress call themselves Christian, a small [dip from last year](http://time.com/3653951/congress-religious-breakdown/ "undefined"), which saw 92% of members identifying as Christian. According to Pew, Congress is as Christian now as it was in the 1960s. Of the 293 Republicans serving in the new Congress, all but two are Christian. New York representative Lee Zeldin and Tennessee representative David Kustoff make up two Jewish Republicans. While Christians also dominate the Democratic party at 80%, the other side of the political aisle sees slightly more religious diversity. Among the 242 Democrats, 28 identify as Jewish, three as Hindus, two as Muslims and one as a Unitarian Universalist. Kyrsten Sinema, a Democratic representative from Arizona, is the only member of Congress who does not affiliate with any religion. Sinema represents a group known as religious “nones,” which makes up 23% of the U.S. but just 0.2% of Congress. Check out the full breakdown [here](http://www.pewforum.org/2017/01/03/faith-on-the-hill-115/?utm%5Fsource=adaptivemailer&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=17-01-03%20faith%20hill%20immediate%20release&org=982&lvl=100&ite=673&lea=127770&ctr=0&par=1&trk= "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4620951/congress-christian-religion/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4620951/congress-christian-religion/"},"headline":"Members of U.S. Congress Are Overwhelmingly Christian, Study Finds","datePublished":"2017-01-03T18:36:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-06-24T06:56:55.936Z","description":"91% of the 115th Congress describe themselves as Christians","url":"https://time.com/4620951/congress-christian-religion/","keywords":["Congress","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt814621e0a31b07e8/6988b448428a9ee7a2cd55fe/congress-religion.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt814621e0a31b07e8/6988b448428a9ee7a2cd55fe/congress-religion.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"115th Congress Convenes For The First Time In 2017","caption":"115th Congress Convenes For The First Time In 2017","creditText":"Andrew Harrer—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4620951/congress-christian-religion/","name":"Members of U.S. Congress Are Overwhelmingly Christian, Study Finds"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"This Video Is No Longer Available","description":"91% of the 115th Congress describe themselves as Christians","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/fKodeUO6/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2026-06-23T15:00:44.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fKodeUO6.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4620951/congress-christian-religion/","duration":"PT10S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4620951/congress-christian-religion/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```