From what I know, Church attendance, etc., has been going down steadily since the 1960s, and more so in places where prosperity is growing. The catch is that prosperity is ultimately based on availability of energy and material resources, and that in turn is affected by limits to growth.
But, in my small city there are well over fifty churches, including 30 Baptist churches, several Methodist churches, one upscale Episcopal church, one Mormon church, one small Catholic Church, many churches of other Christian sects that I can't remember right now, well over 25 nondenominational churches, quite a few predominately black churches, one that advertises that it welcomes all races and nationalities, one Hispanic church, at least a dozen or more store front churches, etc. I'm guessing that while a lot of people here don't attend every week, somebody must be paying to keep those churches, big, small, mini and mega open.
I've met a couple of church attending atheists and I'd be willing to be there are plenty more closeted atheists city in the pews on Sunday mornings. In parts of the south, churches provide the majority of social support and charity. I doubt this will change any time soon. Some of these churches are made up of very wealthy people, while the smallest ones are usually made up of poor members. I don't see how this has anything to do with prosperity It's more about the history of the influence of Christianity on southern culture. I think a lot of these Christians are more about culture than about beliefs. I'm not suggesting that these Christians don't believe in Christianity, but they don't knock on doors or stand on the corners preaching anymore, like they once did.
