THE TIMES POLL : Organized Religion’s Hold on Valley Residents Weak : Churches: Only 39% of respondents are congregation members. Most have liberal views on theological issues.

The San Fernando Valley, long regarded by pastors as a daunting expanse of unchurched suburbia, indeed has relatively few residents involved in organized religion, a Los Angeles Times Poll has found.

Nearly eight of 10 Valley adults identify with some religion, but only half that many belong to a congregation and just one-third attended religious services in the previous week. By comparison, national Gallup surveys show that about 7 of 10 Americans are church or synagogue members and 41% attended services in a given week.

The 20% of Valley residents who identify with no religion at all is double the figure Gallup and The Times measured in surveys of all Americans.

And though a few conservative mega-churches preach to thousands weekly and Catholic tradition has strong roots in the Valley, most survey respondents hold liberal views on three religious issues--legal abortion, women clergy and homosexuals as clergy.

Despite the low commitment to organized religion, interest in spiritual matters is fairly high. Nearly half the respondents--47%--said religion is very important in their lives. The figure “is not far below the 52% who said that in a national Times Poll last June,” said John Brennan, director of The Times Poll.

A religious profile of the Valley, where about 1.5 million people live, emerged from a Times telephone poll on the weekend of Dec. 14 and 15 of 1,237 adults from Burbank to Chatsworth and Sylmar to Woodland Hills.

Among the findings:

* The Christian population is relatively low. Only two-thirds of adult residents say they are Christian, compared to nearly nine of 10 nationally and more than three-fourths in California, according to Times polls. Roman Catholics, at 28%, are about as numerous in the Valley as they are nationally. But Protestants and other non-Catholic Christians make up only 37% in the Valley whereas nationwide they constitute about 60% of the adult population.

* The Jewish population, about 2% nationally and statewide in Times polls, is 10% in the Valley. Three out of four said they are Reform or Conservative Jews.

* The 20% in the Valley who claim “no religion” is not unusual for California as a whole. It matches the ratio found in a 1989 survey by UC Santa Barbara researchers. By contrast, in Orange County, where 81% say they are Christian, only 13% declare no religion, according to a poll in October by Mark Baldassare & Associates of Irvine.

“When I came here in 1976, I heard this Valley had great numbers of unchurched people, and that apparently is still true,” said the Rev. Jess Moody, pastor of Chatsworth’s Shepherd of the Hills Church, formerly the First Baptist Church of Van Nuys. “People here tend to be less rooted. They attend and play chess with churches, moving from one to another.”

The poll did not ask about church-switching. But part of the explanation for lower church affiliation and attendance in the Valley may be that those are trends common to the western United States.

The poll produced a number of seemingly paradoxical findings among those claiming to identify with no religion.

Many are not without beliefs. About three-fourths of them said they believe “in God or a universal spirit,” and 45% of them believe in an afterlife. Also, 42% said religion is either very important or somewhat important in their lives.

Six percent of the no-religion respondents belong to a congregation, and about one in 10 said they attended a religious service in the previous week.

Some of them may be like Robert Castenada of Burbank, who said he goes to Mass most weeks because of family pressure.

“They would give me a hard time if I didn’t go,” Castenada said. “I believe, but there are so many things they tell you to believe. You don’t believe them, but you stay open to them.”

In fact, half of the people claiming no religion characterized themselves as “skeptical but open-minded” rather than as atheistic, agnostic or simply uninterested. The atheist label was the least-picked of the four choices.

“No one would want to be considered close-minded,” said Alexander Prairie, president of the 400-member, Van Nuys-based Atheists United.

“The word atheist often has a negative connotation. But atheists can be very moral persons and profound in their independence from superstition.”

On certain heavily debated religious issues, Valley residents more often than not take liberal positions.

The Supreme Court’s decision that legalized abortion--Roe vs. Wade--is favored by almost 3 to 1 (64% to 22%), a slightly higher margin than the 56% to 28% edge measured by a nationwide Times survey in September. Roman Catholics, who are taught by the church that abortion is murder, voiced approval of the right to abortion by 48% to 32%, with the rest undecided. But Catholics who are members of parishes narrowly oppose abortion on demand, 43% to 35%.

Ordination of women clergy, barred by the Roman Catholic Church and by some theologically conservative denominations, is nevertheless favored by 72% of all respondents and by 63% of all Catholics.

Ordination of gay and lesbian clergy, permitted by only a handful of denominations, is favored 62% to 24% by Valley residents.

Judging by his experience as an active Episcopal priest and by results of the survey, the Rev. Howard Happ, a Cal State Northridge religious studies professor for 20 years, concluded: “Churches are probably not a strong factor in shaping opinions in the Valley.”

Happ said the margin approving of gay clergy was surprising. But he also suggested that Los Angeles area residents generally are showing increasing tolerance toward homosexuals.

The poll found that 22% said they have been “born again” and 20% adhere to a literal interpretation of the Bible. But the survey indicated that the two perspectives are not synonymous, as religious commentators often assume. Only 9% are both “born again” and Bible literalists.

Fifteen percent of Valley Christians said they also are Pentecostal or charismatic believers--16% among non-Catholics and 13% among Catholics. The related movements teach that Christians baptized by the Holy Spirit may receive supernatural gifts such as speaking in tongues, prophecy or healing.

Sixty percent said they never listen to radio preachers or watch TV religious programs; 14% said they do at least once a week.

Valley residents are slightly more liberal in their religious views than in their political feelings. A third call themselves religious liberals, 23% moderates and 19% religious conservatives. On the political spectrum, 28% are liberals, 26% are moderates and 22% conservatives.

HOW THE POLL WAS CONDUCTED

The Los Angeles Times Poll interviewed 1,237 adult residents of the San Fernando Valley, including Burbank, by telephone Dec. 14 and 15. Telephone numbers were selected from a list that includes all exchanges in the area. Random-digit dialing techniques were used to ensure that both listed and unlisted telephone numbers had an opportunity to be contacted. Interviewing was conducted in either English or Spanish. The results were adjusted slightly to conform with census figures on variables such as sex, race and national origin, age, education and household size. The margin of sampling error for percentages based on the total sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points. For certain subgroups, the error margin is somewhat higher. Poll results can also be influenced by other factors, such as question wording and the order of question presentation.

The Poll AT A GLANCE

The Times Poll asked a sample of 1,237 San Fernando Valley adults about their beliefs, affiliations, activities and views on moral and spiritual issues. Here are some of the findings.

A) IDENTITY

Q. What religion are you now?

Non-Catholic Christian: 37%

Roman Catholic: 28%

No Religion: 20%

Jewish: 10%

Other: 4%

Don’t Know: 1%

Q. What religion were you raised in?

Non-Catholic Christian: 37%

Roman Catholic: 40%

No Religion: 6%

Jewish: 10%

Other: 6%

Don’t Know: 1%

Respondents were asked which specific denomination they identify with even if they were not now involved in its activities.

Roman Catholic: 28%

Jewish: 10

Baptist: 6

Lutheran: 4

Methodist: 4

Pentecostal: 3

Presbyterian: 3

Episcopalian: 2

Metaphysical: 2

Mormon: 2

Disciples of Christ: 1

Eastern Orthodox: 1

Seventh-day Adventist: 1

Jehovah’s Witnesses: 1

Eastern Religions: 1

Muslim: 1

Other Christian: 2

Other Religion: 2

No Specific Denomination: 4

No Religion: 20

Don’t know religion or denomination: 2

* Ethnic and Racial Profile of Christians

Roman Catholics

Anglo: 48%

Latino: 39

Other: 7

Asian: 5

Black: 1

Non-Catholic Christians

Anglo: 78%

Latino: 11

Asian: 5

Black: 4

Other: 2%

B) INVOLVEMENT

Relatively few in the Valley belong to congregations.

Q. Are you currently a member of a particular parish or congregation that has your name on its registers or that you support with contributions, or not?

YES - U.S. (Gallup Poll*) 69%

YES - Valley (All Adults): 39%

YES - Roman Catholics: 49%

YES - Non-Catholic Christians: 50%

YES - Jewish: 44%

YES - No Religion: 6%

Attendance of religious services lower than national average

Q. Did you happen to attend a religious service in the last seven days?

YES - U.S. (Gallup Poll) 43%

YES - (All Adults): 34%

YES - Roman Catholics: 48%

YES - Non-Catholic Christians: 42%

YES - Jewish: 22%

YES - No religion: 9%

C) VIEWS ON MAJOR ISSUES

Valley residents favor abortion rights laws by nearly 3-to-1 margin

Q. Generally speaking, are you in favor of the Supreme Court decision which permits a woman to get an abortion from a doctor at any time within the first three months of her pregnancy, or are you opposed to that, or are you indifferent on the subject--or haven’t you heard enough about that to say?

Don’t know Favor Oppose or indif. Valley (All Adults) 64% 22% 15% Roman Catholics 48% 32% 20% Non-Catholic Christians 61% 25% 14% Jewish 93% 2% 5% No Religion 79% 8% 13%

They think it’s wrong to ban gays from the clergy.

Q. Do you think it is right or wrong for gays and lesbians to be excluded from the clergy?

Right Wrong Don’t know Valley (All Adults) 24% 62% 14% Roman Catholics 23% 57% 20% Non-Catholic Christians 33% 55% 12% Jewish 10% 82% 8% No Religion 14% 74% 12%

* Gallup results from similarly worded questions asked in November, 1991.