More than one-third of Americans say they feel "very connected" to their local church or religious institution, according to a new survey from Rasmussen Reports.

Rasmussen found that more than half of those surveyed (54 percent) say they feel at least somewhat connected to their local religious institution—far and away the institution with the strongest feelings of connection. Only 12 percent said they feel "very connected" either to local charities or local recreational groups, which both ranked second. Catholic News Agency has more details.

The survey's 1,000 participants were asked to describe how connected they felt to nine governmental and nongovernmental institutions, including a "local church or religious organization," "local charity," "local government," "federal government," a "political party," and "local advocacy group."

Rasmussen states that "nothing else comes close [to church]. Government and politics are near the bottom of the list."

A separate study released by Rasmussen in February found that, beyond family, 35 percent of American say their primary allegiance is to their church, while 31 percent said it was to their country.

CT previously has reported on evangelical institutions and on "re-monking the church" to improve connectedness. CT also has reported that many young believers are disillusioned with their local churches.