Mosques, OTOH...
. . the great falling away . .
Very sad. Prayers.
Not said: Does the availability of conservative Catholic churches, as opposed to liberal ones, matter in the equation?
I suspect that conservative Catholics would travel a long way to worship at a conservative church, but not at a liberal one. And liberals do not want to travel very far at all to attend even a liberal church with watered down faith.
Happens at Protestant churches and towns too. It’s a cultural thing versus a life changing thing. It is sad.
Enter mosques
Alrighty then!
I knew the Catholic Church was done for when my friend, who had cancer and was unable to work, was told to find another church, because he wasn’t contributing his share to the donations plate.
Many churches - and this is true of Baptist churches as well - are just social clubs for the religous-minded. My Baptist pastor would say the same thing. Churches too often become social clubs instead of the Body of Christ.
And a social club can be easily replaced.
The newspaper’s editor-in-chief Anton de Wit speaks of “a rather uncomfortable conclusion” for the community of faithful: “The village in 2020 can do very well without a church.”
Stop and think, what exactly is bringing people together at a church? I once belonged to a Toastmasters Club that met at 6:30 on a Saturday Morning and we had to turn people away. We had a very clear reason for being there at that hour and all members knew what it was.
Ask people why they go to church and listen with a keen ear.
https://www.etymonline.com/word/Club
Origination of word club. “I have a good miond to join a club and beat you over the head with it”, makes sense.................
- There are no significant social implications of church closures in rural municipalities; other organizations take over the different tasks of the parish.