Church attendance continues to plummet

[Anonymous]

People, especially UMC people, have become so clipped, reserved, and boring. No wonder everyone is lonely. They just go in and out of their homes like zombies and are always behind a screen or phone. No one makes eye contact anymore or has any interest or curiosity about anyone who isn’t in their nuclear family. What a depressing way to live.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As an atheist, I prefer if the main driver is logic that drives it down for all religions, and not just ones with whom I disagree politically or who I feel have committed civic transgressions. This means no specific hatred for any one religion.

I like to think the main reason is that people are learning more and choosing to not believe in things - religious or otherwise - for which there is insufficient evidence.

+1

[Anonymous]

People are lonely because they’re antisocial now & won’t interact with people they don’t already know. For example, organic ways of meeting potential dates are now shunned, and dating apps are celebrated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People are lonely because they’re antisocial now & won’t interact with people they don’t already know. For example, organic ways of meeting potential dates are now shunned, and dating apps are celebrated.

Why is this? What has happened to people?

[Anonymous]

Parents now spend more time with their kids than ever before. Rotary club vs kids sport? I’m picking sports any day.

[Anonymous]

Our church is growing and thriving. We attract people of all ages.

People who attend church regularly tend to be healthier and happier according to research.

Our church is welcoming and inclusive of GTLBQ +, immigrants, young, old and anyone who feels attracted to our services, spiritual practice groups, communit dinners, smaller social activities, forums, Bible studies, and extensive community service work.

Church is still an important part of life for many us.

However I can see why many people may have stopped attending church in recent years during the pandemic and extreme exploitation of religion for cynical political purposes and hate mongering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents now spend more time with their kids than ever before. Rotary club vs kids sport? I’m picking sports any day.

Zero evidence to suggest your first sentence.

[Anonymous]

What the article says for United Methodist and other mainline Christian churches is not true for fundamentalist evangelical churches. they are growing. from NPR. https://www.npr.org/2022/08/22/1118734799/evangelical-christian-churches-gain-ground-in-majority-catholic-brazil

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What the article says for United Methodist and other mainline Christian churches is not true for fundamentalist evangelical churches. they are growing. from NPR. https://www.npr.org/2022/08/22/1118734799/evangelical-christian-churches-gain-ground-in-majority-catholic-brazil

In Brazil? How is that relevant to the article, which is clearly about the US? "Just 16% of Americans"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As an atheist, I prefer if the main driver is logic that drives it down for all religions, and not just ones with whom I disagree politically or who I feel have committed civic transgressions. This means no specific hatred for any one religion.

I like to think the main reason is that people are learning more and choosing to not believe in things - religious or otherwise - for which there is insufficient evidence.

Seems far-fetched to believe that people are no longer believing in things for which there is insufficient evidence. What is your evidence for this claim? Seems like belief in things like conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, and fake news is at an all time high, although I haven’t seen any research. That doesn’t even consider the recent trend of people’s belief systems shifting from religion-oriented to politically-oriented.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an atheist, I prefer if the main driver is logic that drives it down for all religions, and not just ones with whom I disagree politically or who I feel have committed civic transgressions. This means no specific hatred for any one religion.

I like to think the main reason is that people are learning more and choosing to not believe in things - religious or otherwise - for which there is insufficient evidence.

Seems far-fetched to believe that people are no longer believing in things for which there is insufficient evidence. What is your evidence for this claim? Seems like belief in things like conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, and fake news is at an all time high, although I haven’t seen any research. That doesn’t even consider the recent trend of people’s belief systems shifting from religion-oriented to politically-oriented.

I didn't say I believed it was because of that, I said I preferred that reason to for political and social reasons.

I agree there is a lot of unbelievable stuff being believed out there. Religion is only one of those things. But fortunately, every single data point shows Americans are moving away from it rapidly. For that there is much evidence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"What are your thoughts?"

My thoughts are that it's not exclusive to religious participation. Americans are leading increasingly lonely and isolated lives. They're not just not attending church, they're pulling back from Ruritans, ladies clubs, book groups, bowling leagues, golf leagues, yacht clubs, country clubs, DAR, union halls, VFW clubs and events, hunting clubs...

There is basically one exception. Those of us who have minor children and sufficient financial means spend a lot of our time driving and watching our kids play soccer or practice dance routines.

Pretty much anything that was once a staple of American working and middle class community life is struggling for membership or dying. Never before in the history of humankind have so many people been living alone. It's an enormous mental health problem that's rapidly worsening. So we spend a lot of time online in silo'd groups getting fed algorithms that are scientifically designed to make us angrier about whatever we're inclined to be angry about.

DCUM will love to snicker at the idea of churches declining. For our family, ours is a major source of community, friendship, service work, youth activities and friends, and so on.

Since when are DAR, yacht clubs, golf leagues staples of the American working and middle class? Even service clubs have traditionally been the purview of those with enough excess capital to fund them

The PP described a range of organizations where people formed bonds. I grew up in a blue-collar neighborhood, and my parents were involved in community service organizations (and church). The point is that our rejection of institutions leaves a vacuum and impacts people of all economic circumstances, who now find themselves lonely and disconnected.

I don't know if it's rejection of institutions. I know that there were plenty of organizations in previous generations that were basically kept afloat due to women's unpaid labor -- from the PTA, to churches, to clubs. As a military officer's wife, I've heard lots of conversations about all the things that officer's wives used to do. Heck, I grew up with a dad who was a doctor and the 'medical auxiliary' (doctors' wife club) had a volunteer group that drove people to cancer treatment when they didn't have any family to help out. I work at a university and part of the reason your tuition is so high is because lots of things that were previously done by Professor's wives (like hosting socials, helping foreign students, etc.) are now done by paid professionals in fields like Student Services, International Student Organization, etc. A lot of churches are less active because there are fewer stay at home wives overall, and fewer who want to spend all their time doing unpaid labor that is usually unacknowledged and unappreciated.

I think this is true. And also, men were more relaxed when they could come home after a 20 min commute to a neat house and hot meal courtesy of their SAHW. So they would have energy for rotary club or whatever after dinner. Nowadays work is so stressful that dual-income folks spend their time at home recovering from their workday! Or logging in again after bedtime for more of the same.

I would not want women to step back from the workforce, but would love more flexible jobs.

[Anonymous]

But anyway, most of the things listed sound white and boring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents now spend more time with their kids than ever before. Rotary club vs kids sport? I’m picking sports any day.

Zero evidence to suggest your first sentence.

There have been actual studies that demonstrate this: https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2017/11/27/parents-now-spend-twice-as-much-time-with-their-children-as-50-years-ago

[Anonymous]

My Catholic church, which tool a huge hit during covid, is almost back to it’s pre-pandemic numbers in terms of attendance and the school has a waitlist. I am very optimistic that church attendance will continue to grow.