The Unchurching of America

[lpetrich]

As churches close in Minnesota, a way of life comes to an end - StarTribune.com: "The Unchurching of America"

After describing some church closings, the article states "The rising toll is evident in rural, urban and suburban churches across the state."

And it seems likely to get worse. Most Americans still report that they are Christian, but the worshipers in the pews on Sunday increasingly have gray or white hair. The median age is older than 50 for nearly all mainline Protestant denominations, according to the Pew Research Center, a national polling and research group in Washington, D.C. For Catholics, it’s age 49.

Over 2000 - 2016/17, the number of houses of worship has declined by 10% - 16%, the number of members of mainline-Protestant sects by 22% to 42%, and the number of baptisms by Catholics and Lutherans by 34% to 51%. Catholics increased nationwide by 14% and declined in Minnesota by 3%. The difference for Catholics is likely the numerous Hispanic immigrants.

Church attendance has been declining for decades nationally, but the pace appears to be accelerating. Since 1990, the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. and United Church of Christ have lost nearly half their national members. The ELCA has lost a third. The Catholic church still shows membership growth, but has 2,000 fewer parishes today, according to Catholic studies.

A record one in five Americans now report no religious affiliation, according to Pew.

But membership doesn’t always translate into people abandoning Sunday morning coffee to attend worship. Catholic and Lutheran surveys indicate about one in four church members actually show up each week.

Not every denomination or church is fragile. Some smaller evangelical denominations in Minnesota, such as Assemblies of God, and some megachurches report continued growth. But as a whole, even membership in the evangelical churches has plateaued, according to the Hartford Institute and other studies.

 

[Rhea]

Good. Fewer people using that evil book to govern their communities.

 

[Lion IRC]

Yeah, all you ever hear about America these days is good news and how much happier Americans are.
Racism has been defeated.
Domestic violence and gender-based violence declining.
War on drugs? Nahhhh. #soma_wins
School shootings hardly ever happen.
Humble, selfless folks walking around taking photos of themself and their plates of food.
Self-harm and suicide practically unheard of.
#MAGA

 

[Keith&Co.]

Good. Fewer people using that evil book to govern their communities.

I dunno... they still identify as Christains, they just don't congregate.

I wonder if this is going to produce a New Age Christainity. like the fads of the 90s. Each individual crafting their own religion out of whatever sources appeal. Meaning there's no social brake on their various urges.

 

[funinspace]

No kudos for the orange gas bag...

Yeah, all you ever hear about America these days is good news and how much happier Americans are.
Racism has been defeated.
Domestic violence and gender-based violence declining.
War on drugs? Nahhhh. #soma_wins
School shootings hardly ever happen.
Humble, selfless folks walking around taking photos of themself and their plates of food.
Self-harm and suicide practically unheard of.
#MAGA

Sadly, Americans don't rate so well on the international happiness index, but I doubt the decrease in religiosity is a factor...as Nordic states are on the top of the happiness list and are way less into religion.
Racism hasn't been defeated, but it is much more restrained. A 100 years ago, the US had about 170-200 black lynchings a year.
Violence and murder rates are way down from the 19th century, and by happenstance about the same as a 100 years ago in the US. See chart below.
Yeah, we are finally getting over the paranoid and destructive war on drugs that the moralists wanted.
Sure school shootings happen a lot these days, but that doesn't change the fact that the murder rate isn't much different.
Suicide rates in the US are about the same today than they were a 100 years ago. Though it got worse in the depression... See chart below.

 

[Underseer]

Good. Fewer people using that evil book to govern their communities.

Church attendance is in decline and has been for decades, but this is not necessarily evidence of that. Right now, megachurches are putting all the traditional churches out of business as Protestants follow the Wal*Mart model.

This is self-destructive and will have long-standing consequences.

If you poll ex-Christian atheists and ask them "What good things can you list about Christianity?" the number one answer you get back is "Having an extra-familial support network." In a megachurch, you're just another face in the crowd. It simply can't provide an extrafamilial support network as well as traditional smaller churches.

Those megachurches are destroying one of the few (or only) good things about their own religion. If you're getting a bigger and bigger slice of the pie, it's easy to miss that the pie itself is shrinking.

- - - Updated - - -

Yeah, all you ever hear about America these days is good news and how much happier Americans are.
Racism has been defeated.
Domestic violence and gender-based violence declining.
War on drugs? Nahhhh. #soma_wins
School shootings hardly ever happen.
Humble, selfless folks walking around taking photos of themself and their plates of food.
Self-harm and suicide practically unheard of.
#MAGA

Interesting that you mention those thing.

First, no one is claiming that those things are gone. In fact, we have evidence that those things are more likely to happen in populations with higher religiosity. The more Christian a population is, the more of such things that population will produce.

 

[Underseer]

Yeah, all you ever hear about America these days is good news and how much happier Americans are.
Racism has been defeated.
Domestic violence and gender-based violence declining.
War on drugs? Nahhhh. #soma_wins
School shootings hardly ever happen.
Humble, selfless folks walking around taking photos of themself and their plates of food.
Self-harm and suicide practically unheard of.
#MAGA

Sadly, Americans don't rate so well on the international happiness index, but I doubt the decrease in religiosity is a factor...as Nordic states are on the top of the happiness list and are way less into religion.
Racism hasn't been defeated, but it is much more restrained. A 100 years ago, the US had about 170-200 black lynchings a year.
Violence and murder rates are way down from the 19th century, and by happenstance about the same as a 100 years ago in the US. See chart below.
Yeah, we are finally getting over the paranoid and destructive war on drugs that the moralists wanted.
Sure school shootings happen a lot these days, but that doesn't change the fact that the murder rate isn't much different.
Suicide rates in the US are about the same today than they were a 100 years ago. Though it got worse in the depression... See chart below.

View attachment 16527

Yup. America has higher religiosity than other industrialized nation, and thus higher rates of murder and suicide.

Either Christianity causes murder and suicide, murder and suicide causes Christianity, or both are caused by a third correlate of some sort.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

Good. Fewer people using that evil book to govern their communities.

I dunno... they still identify as Christains, they just don't congregate.

I wonder if this is going to produce a New Age Christainity. like the fads of the 90s. Each individual crafting their own religion out of whatever sources appeal. Meaning there's no social brake on their various urges.

What a great concept. Write a How To book on crafting your own Christianity personalized just for you and become a best selling religious guru.

 

[Keith&Co.]

Good. Fewer people using that evil book to govern their communities.

I dunno... they still identify as Christains, they just don't congregate.

I wonder if this is going to produce a New Age Christainity. like the fads of the 90s. Each individual crafting their own religion out of whatever sources appeal. Meaning there's no social brake on their various urges.

What a great concept. Write a How To book on crafting your own Christianity personalized just for you and become a best selling religious guru.

Hell, just take any of the books from the 90s New Age stores, and replace any reference Eastern Tradition, fairies, or druidic philosophy with a Bible book. Upload it to Amazon, pick a conservative book cover, Bob's your uncle.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

Good. Fewer people using that evil book to govern their communities.

Church attendance is in decline and has been for decades, but this is not necessarily evidence of that. Right now, megachurches are putting all the traditional churches out of business as Protestants follow the Wal*Mart model.

In some places, megachurches are more than churches. They have kid's sports programs, and many megachurches preach a watered down not too offensive religion. Being a member of a church may help with having a religious employer. With lots of members you can avoid too much attention from nosy pastors. It is a life style as much as a church. "The poor man's country club".

 

[southernhybrid]

The last time I counted there were at least 47 churches in my small city of about 20,000 people. While there are many large churches and mega churches, there are also tiny little churches. Some are old store fronts or in former offices. One is an old movie theater turned into a church and one was a restaurant, now a church. Some are in wealthy neighborhoods, while others are in poor neighborhoods. At least one is Hispanic, but it's very small and in an old industrial site. One advertises as a mixed race church. So, it's hard for me to believe that church attendance is down here, but I do live in the Bible Belt, so there's that. And i'ts true that many Christians don't attend church every week.

I actually find it interesting that we have so many churches here, including a Mormon and a JW Kingdom Hall. We have something for every kind of kooky Christian. We even have one Catholic church, which is sort of rare in the south. Too bad if you're not a Christian. My favorite church is the one at the end of my street. They have free classical music concerts, a huge gym that can be used by the public, and they do a lot of charity work. I even voted there once before we had early voting in Ga. and they were giving out free donuts. Those Methodists can be such nice folks.

We atheists will never replace churches unless we can give people some way to form communities and socialization opportunities for those who need that. Sure, we have a little atheist group here, but we only meet once a month and sometimes only three or four of us show up. But as I like to say, "Whenever two or more aren't gathered in His name, a good time will be had by all". I'm serious. In the south, much of the Christian culture is about social grouping. Atheists aren't very good at organizing as social groups, or doing charity work. That can be a problem for us.

 

[Underseer]

Yes, there are still smaller churches left, but the megachurches have put a lot of them out of business.

https://www.wral.com/popularity-of-megachurches-leaves-some-smaller-churches-struggling/14620341/

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Good. Fewer people using that evil book to govern their communities.

Church attendance is in decline and has been for decades, but this is not necessarily evidence of that. Right now, megachurches are putting all the traditional churches out of business as Protestants follow the Wal*Mart model.

In some places, megachurches are more than churches. They have kid's sports programs, and many megachurches preach a watered down not too offensive religion. Being a member of a church may help with having a religious employer. With lots of members you can avoid too much attention from nosy pastors. It is a life style as much as a church. "The poor man's country club".

This is very true.

A local megachurch had the easter bunny parachute into its over-the-top celebration of materialism, complete with ten thousand easter eggs. Most parishioners no doubt are quite certain that the word "easter" comes from "easter bunny."

 

[DBT]

Useful as a kind of social club, I guess it's a club with the motto; let's pretend to have the answers to the big questions.....

 

[Shake]

Even without more people self-identifying as non-religious, I see the declining church attendance in the US as an overall positive. Think about it like this, what's one thing which keeps people in the faith? The immersion in the culture of their particular sect. Churches don't want you to only come for the services. No, they want you to get involved in the congregation, participate in Bible studies, sign up to read or collect money or sing or something. The more you're there, the more reinforcement there is of the dogma and also the more involved you are, the more attached you become and it's harder to break away. So, for those who do break away and don't just go right out and find a new church, the ones who truly get away from organized religion, there is less of the repetitive reinforcement. Such people, I feel, are at least more likely to support issues of church-state separation and reject the religiously motivated policies of a given sect. They're also less likely to be put up walls when they find out you're an atheist.

 

[Underseer]

Even without more people self-identifying as non-religious, I see the declining church attendance in the US as an overall positive. Think about it like this, what's one thing which keeps people in the faith? The immersion in the culture of their particular sect. Churches don't want you to only come for the services. No, they want you to get involved in the congregation, participate in Bible studies, sign up to read or collect money or sing or something. The more you're there, the more reinforcement there is of the dogma and also the more involved you are, the more attached you become and it's harder to break away. So, for those who do break away and don't just go right out and find a new church, the ones who truly get away from organized religion, there is less of the repetitive reinforcement. Such people, I feel, are at least more likely to support issues of church-state separation and reject the religiously motivated policies of a given sect. They're also less likely to be put up walls when they find out you're an atheist.

Part of what keeps people believing in magical sky-fairies is the constant reinforcement from social pressure from people who believe the same things.

By entering the "I'm religious, but against organized religion," they've taken the gateway drug to apatheism. From there, igtheism is just a short hope away.

 

[Keith&Co.]

It's a gateway, but not necessarily to atheism.

Some discover something like solo-tradition witchcraft, or someone who'll tell them they're psychic.
Self-taught shamanism, self-calibrating Tarot readings. Self-absorbed bear path enchanter. Self-attuned crystal healer.

All the woo you can handle and NO ONE can tell you you're doing it wrong.
Except for the lady who glue-gunned crystals on her steering wheel, right on top of the air bag... Turning your safety feature into a claymore mine allows MANY people to tell you, you're doing that wrong.

 

[Shake]

Part of what keeps people believing in magical sky-fairies is the constant reinforcement from social pressure from people who believe the same things.

By entering the "I'm religious, but against organized religion," they've taken the gateway drug to apatheism. From there, igtheism is just a short hope away.

My first step on the way to atheism was that one.

When I was starting the 4th grade, my parents thought it would be a good idea to start sending my younger sister and I to Sunday school. Neither of my parents had had much to do with church for some time, but their pushing us into one eventually got them back in the loop, so to speak. Ironically then, a few years later, it was words from my father — then church council president and a Confirmation teacher — which got my mind working towards seeing the divisions within just any one congregation, never mind among the various sects. This got me to thinking that religion is highly personal. I started to see the churches as instruments of control. Sure, they used (some of) the money they collected for good things, but I came to realize that the rest of it was unnecessary if all you wanted to do was help your fellow human beings. Then as time went on I guess I realized that if no one held the same beliefs about the various faiths, how could any of them really be true?