Posted on 01/31/2023 6:54:43 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Churches are closing at rapid numbers in the US, researchers say, as congregations dwindle across the country and a younger generation of Americans abandon Christianity altogether – even as faith continues to dominate American politics.
As the US adjusts to an increasingly non-religious population, thousands of churches are closing each year in the country – a figure that experts believe may have accelerated since the Covid-19 pandemic.
The situation means some hard decisions for pastors, who have to decide when a dwindling congregation is no longer sustainable. But it has also created a boom market for those wanting to buy churches, with former houses of worship now finding new life.
About 4,500 Protestant churches closed in 2019, the last year data is available, with about 3,000 new churches opening, according to Lifeway Research. It was the first time the number of churches in the US hadn’t grown since the evangelical firm started studying the topic. With the pandemic speeding up a broader trend of Americans turning away from Christianity, researchers say the closures will only have accelerated.
“The closures, even for a temporary period of time, impacted a lot of churches. People breaking that habit of attending church means a lot of churches had to work hard to get people back to attending again,” said Scott McConnell, executive director at Lifeway Research.
“In the last three years, all signs are pointing to a continued pace of closures probably similar to 2019 or possibly higher, as there’s been a really rapid rise in American individuals who say they’re not religious.”
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Protestant pastors reported that typical church attendance is only 85% of pre-pandemic levels, McConnell said, while research by the Survey Center on American Life and the University of Chicago found that in spring 2022 67% of Americans reported attending church at least once a year, compared with 75% before the pandemic.
At a time of a global "pandemic", people turned to their church only to be told; "We're an extension of government. Stay home. Put on a mask. Take an experimental jab."
Who would return?
It’s because of the leftists and communists and LGBTQ sodomites taking over so many churches!
Most churches have gone ‘woke’ from what I can tell. They are hardly recognizable as Christian institutions anymore... especially the old establishment mainline churches.
Yes! My church shut down for covid and I did not agree with that. It shows a complete lack of faith in Jesus to shut down your church over a cold virus!
The Guardian, that leftist wipe, has not noticed the parking lots of nondenominational churches, which are jammed for four and five services on Sunday. The mainline denominations are losing membership while the nondenominational churches have to hire off duty cops to direct traffic, or bus parishioners in from remote parking. People are not losing their faith.
Until and unless this nation repents and returns to God and God's laws, we are doomed.
There are no secular fixes that will resolve our loss of freedom and civility.
I don’t know about all religions in the USA, but as someone that was raised an Episcopalian, using the traditional prayer book, when the Church went charismatic, embracing speaking in tongues and many other liberal tenants, it drove many traditional Episcopalians away.
In the Catholic faith, I think a lot of people have been turned off by the seemingly never-ending Priest sexual scandals and the garbage coming out of the current Pope.
People adopt a faith for many reasons, but when their adopted faith turns far away from what they believe, the people will abandon that faith.
Same thing happening in all other major religions. Except Islam. In another 100 years the whole world will live under sharia if the trend continues.
“...a figure that experts believe may have accelerated since the Covid-19 pandemic.”
I believe that was one of the goals of the COVID hysteria. Destroy the economy, destroy churches, isolate everyone, and increase domestic violence, and child abuse. Then start nationwide rioting followed by destroying the police forces. The perfect outcome as far as the Media-Dem Party is concerned.
This.
Turn them into schools. Pastors make good principals. Then there’s the nuns with rulers in their hands...
A great many churches today, particularly the larger ones, are more about tithing than anything else. I don’t know if they get big and the money consumes them, or if they are in it for the money from the start. Our little church never shut down.
no. any nun or anyone else hit my kid with a ruler you’re going to have trouble from me.
Yes i know some folks on this forum are ok with strangers hurting their kids. I am not.
This was a well written article, but they failed to mention a big factor in young people showing less interest in church or Christianity in general:
The public school system has been working since the 1990s to scrub away as much Christian influence as they can.
Now on top of that, you have CRT influenced new teachers who may consider anything Christian to be evidence of White Privilege or the toxic male patriarchy.
Its because 4-walled, TV, organized $$$ religion is a scam.
Comming from a life-long Christian born and raised in the church.
I’ll tell you what.
I’m sure there are fewer “religious” people.
BUT, the churches are less “religious”, too.
Since the Scamdemic, it has come out big time who our enemies are. That includes churches, especially all the “mainstream” churches.
They have shuttered their doors, and immediately bowed to BLM for their rioting, then quickly followed with rainbow f(l)ags and welcomed and enabled all this sinful behavior from all corners.
Many of us don’t have the stomach for this garbage anymore. We feel abandoned and betrayed.
Never mind lots of this was happening before Scamdemic rioting, and lots of bowing to foolish modernistic garbage.
Yes, I mean those “non-denominational” all-happy all-music-concert (often hippie-like when not loud rock concert) all the time churches - which has spilled over to the mainstream.
I have “traditional” churches playing this stupid 7-11 (7 words, repeat 11 times) stuff, and “youth” people with nose rings and tattoos doing Sunday School. In regular, mainstream churches, and those not quite mainstream but supposedly more “conservative”.
I’m sick of it.
Part of the reason for this, especially on the Protestant side, was that seminaries and then holding the status of an assistant minister was the way out of the draft during Vietnam. Thus, you have a lot of senior ministers today who were quite radical 50 years ago and have, if anything, cultivated and propagated their leftist beliefs rather than the Gospel.
Maybe you should revisit 1 Corinthians 14...
A few years ago I used to say, “I don’t ‘need’ to speak in tongues” even after studying God’s Word!!!! Then, my best friend laid her hands on me and prayed in tongues when my vision suddenly faded (before C-19!!!). I could not read the headings of my Bible. After receiving her prayer, about 5 minutes later I began to cry (which I do not do often..and we were at a Bible Study). My vision returned and was even better because I didn’t have to use my 1+ glasses!!!
Now...I am excited as one day soon I hope I am given my prayer language! The beauty of words overwhelms my heart when I hear them.
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