South Carolina declining also

[lpetrich]

Send Thoughts and Prayers: South Carolina is Losing Its Churches – Friendly Atheist

At least 97 Protestant churches across South Carolina have closed since 2011, according to data from the Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist and Southern Baptist denominations. An untold number of other closings, certainly, are not captured by these statistics.

Many churches are dying slow deaths, stuck in stagnation if not decline. And if they don’t do something, anything, in their near future, they’ll share the fate of Cedar Creek United Methodist, a 274-year-old Richland County congregation that dissolved last year; Resurrection Lutheran, a church near downtown Columbia that will hold its last service on Sept. 2; and the dozens of churches that sit shuttered and empty around the state.

From SC churches seek lifelines as attendance drops, closures rise | The State by Sarah Ellis

Some 3/4 of South Carolina adults continue to identify as Xian, though the "nones" are rather evidently on the rise there also. Here is one possible reason:

“If you just want to be a philanthropic person, there are a gazillion opportunities for you to feed hungry people, clothe cold people, do service projects, build a house,” said David Turner, the minister of music and worship at Ebenezer Lutheran Church in downtown Columbia.