Yet although a mere 1.7m people attend its services regularly, its special status endures.
Most modern presidents have not attended Sunday services regularly, historians say.
Various Christian groups, including the Greek, Roman, Armenian, and Coptic churches, control parts of the present church and conduct services regularly.
L. Whitney Clayton, a Mormon elder, lamented that intra-faith marriage was hard to promote to those who don't attend services regularly.
Forecasts earlier this year suggested numbers attending Church of England services regularly would continue to fall for another 30 years to about 1% of the population.
My role covers a big geographical patch and one of the main difficulties I face is making sure I get around all the services regularly.
A research center affiliated with the Cuban church council reports that about 300,000 Protestants attend worship services regularly, as do about 280,000 Catholics.
A decade ago, they would have been expected to attend services regularly, to dress conservatively, and to save their virginity for their husbands.
Only 21% of Hungarians attend religious services regularly, compared with 84% of the Irish and 55% of the Poles.. Less than half the Hungarian population believes in God, compared with 73% of the Irish and 80% of the Poles.
Despite more than 30 inquiries, no one has applied yet for the $40,000 to help buy a home, and just three families have taken the rental assistance, one of whom voluntarily stopped after being unable to attend services regularly.
My older daughter believes that if Ms. Stewart goes to prison my obligations will include attending services regularly, maintaining a kosher home, and refraining from operating a motor vehicle on Shemini Atzereth.
