Something is Really Going On in Terms of Church Attendance

After falling like a stone for many years, in the last four to five years, something has really been going on in terms of church attendance.

In many places people are still telling the same old story. For example, as part of my agreement to be Spiritual Life Center’s new Senior Minister I entered the INTEGRAL MINISTRY PROGRAM (IMP) run by Revs. Gary and Jane Simmons. In these IMP classes, I often hear how far fewer people want to go to church anymore.

However, prior to my call to ministry I was very fortunate to be the chief economist and head of research for the United Way movement. In this role I was able to work with senior researchers at Gallup Polls, Pew Research, and other places. Many of them still send me their latest datasets.

This information is showing some very interesting changes in terms of the public’s regard of, and behavior towards, spirituality, including the following:

• Church attendance has NOT been falling for the last four or five years

• In fact, there are signs that church and synagogue attendance actually has been increasing in recent years

• The major shifts fueling this change have not come from the very elderly or baby boomers

• In fact, the shift has come mostly from Gen Xers, Millennials, and Gen Zers

• Besides church attendance levels, there are other signs of increased interest in spirituality among the general public

Now, I do want to be cautious, and four or five years of data in this significant cultural area does not mean that we were about to see a 50 year tidal wave boosting up spirituality and religion. It could just be a blip or a pause in the downward trend.

But I do have a sense that something really is going on, and it isn’t just older folks pulling up church attendance numbers. Let me provide some more evidence to back up this hunch.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that several leading churches in New York City are now “standing room only.” Young people are flocking back to these churches. At special nights there is “pizza in the pews” around Bible study, or interfaith exploration. As several younger churchgoers told The Wall Street Journal reporters: they would much rather meet their lifetime partner in a church than in a bar.

These trends are not just a “New York City thing,” but they are showing up in many other parts of the country as well.

The social scientist inside of me would like to study more extensive data, interviews, focus groups, etc. to get a better handle on what is behind these changes. But I suspect that it will be several more years before we can really do this. In fact, it will take several more years before we can really say if this is a short run blip or a long run trend.

Nevertheless, one can hypothesize, and I have been known to try and 'stick my two cents in.' We live in a very secular world. During my lifetime I have seen the vastly increased secularization of our society. In some ways, this trend has brought benefits and new freedoms in our modern lives.

But in some other important ways, this increased secularization has been a 'God that has failed.' And a key part of this failure has been in the area of meaning, purpose, and transcendence (i.e., moving beyond the ego).

I think that all too often the 'either/or' alternative that is presented is between the 'Brave New World of Secularization' or that 'Old Time Religion.' I believe that in many ways we should remember that 'the good old days' stank with their prejudice, racism, sexism, inequality, etc. Also, with the modern advances and science the 'Old Time Religion' just doesn’t stand up. It is also a 'God that has failed.'

This is where I believe Unity/New Thought/interfaith can come in. These recent trends can be a gold mine for places like Spiritual Life Center.

The data indicate that the largest growth in the 'spiritual marketplace' is among the spiritual, but not religious. The evidence indicates that their values so often resonate with what Unity/New Thought/interfaith stands for.

I think that SLC, Unity Worldwide Headquarters, and several other places have recently gotten better at marketing and reaching out beyond our walls. I am so glad that SLC has made a commitment to youth and family ministry, and for efforts to reach young adults in their 20s.

Given the recent trends noted above, I believe that these efforts will truly be sound spiritual investments. I believe that the wind is in our sails, and that there are many reasons for us to be optimistic about our future — if we continue to make sound spiritual investments.

Many blessings,

Rev. Rick