LINK Churches closing their doors in record numbers
By: Diane Duenez
Jun 23, 2022
In recent years, more churches are closing than opening. Fewer than 50% of Americans claim to be church members. Within this decline are fascinating numbers about how faith and communities have evolved, particularly in tiny towns where tiny churches once formed as community centers.
Paul Coston was the minister of the Ragsdale Church of Christ until it closed in March.
“You can’t have a church with eight people,” Coston said.
Ragsdale Church of Christ opened in the early 1950s, right around the time church attendance soared nationwide.
“Church membership trends mirror white population trends in the United States,” said Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi, a professor at Denver’s Iliff School of Theology. “You had 100 children in Sunday school. You had adults whose not only religious lives but professional and civic lives were related to the church itself.”
Ragsdale was built to represent a small town. Today, that town is part of Manchester, Tennessee, an hour south of Nashville. It’s a town of 12,000. It’s the home of Bonnaroo. And over the years, its churches have sapped Ragsdale’s congregation.
“We have people who’ll drive 30 minutes to Murfreesboro for a hamburger. If they’ll drive 30 minutes for a hamburger, they will drive five miles to worship God,” Coston said.
Coston had ministered at Ragsdale for 19 years. By the end, the only remnants of Old Town were the church and the cemetery.
“Sometimes you got to ask yourself the question, ‘Are we doing the good Lord’s work by just keeping the doors open?’ Coston said.
Coston points to a Gallup poll that found, for the first time in the poll’s 80-year history, church membership among American adults has fallen below 50%.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean that religion is dying,” Lizardy-Hajbi said.
She points to a Pew Research Poll that found four out of five U.S. adults believe in God. Nine out of 10 believe in some higher power, according to the poll.
For many, the small church in the small town is a timeless symbol of faith and community. But as small towns dwindle and small churches close, those still there must find faith and community without them.
22
Enjoy being online again!
Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.Create your free account
10 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.And perhaps that's why so many religious groups feel the need to force their brand of religion on others.
JackPedigo
Level 9
July 9, 2022
2
The headline sounds better than the reality. As small churches close attendance at mega churches has risen. I'll be happy when they're ALL closed down.
Flyingsaucesir
Level 8
July 8, 2022
5
Whenever I drive down Highway 59 in Houston and pass Joel Osteen‘s cathedral to himself, I try and remember what a great basketball arena that once was. It is sickening how these charlatans can dupe so many people and live like fucking kings.
Redheadedgammy
Level 9
July 8, 2022
4
Just the opposite in my town. We had a large building that was a showcase for cars and car repair. For reasons unknown to me the owner turned it into a church. As the pandemic was ending in our area they started building again and turned this into mega church. The heads up I'm getting here is that you can pretty much do as you wanna do as long as you believe in mega Jesus.
DenoPenno
Level 9
July 8, 2022
4
And MAYBE the people just changed churches. The local mega church just finished building an even bigger building.
KateOahu
Level 8
July 7, 2022
4
You may be correct. Those huge, culty mega churches are all over the place. Maybe that's why the smaller churches are closing up, similar to Walmart coming into an area and the little locally owned shops end up closing.
In my area the big old Protestant churches no longer have the money to keep up their buildings. I've heard the huge first Baptist Church normally only has 40 people on Sunday. Presbyterian Church has moved to a small storefront on main Street abandoning their huge Church which had many beautiful stained glass windows that are now falling apart.
Church attendance doesn't seem to be waning though because huge new barn like metal buildings are replacing the old main line churches with names like Family of Faith and Life Church which are non-denominational. They are creating a social life, private schools and amenities such as grocery shopping that you can pick up on Wednesday night at church. Saddest of all their membership is predominantly young.
Lorajay
Level 9
July 7, 2022
3
In Canada the Church was gifted land and the Crown kept a huge portion of the land as well as Crown Land. Queenie in England is close to kicking the bucket and Big Ears should seal the fate of the British Monarchy soon after, the Church needs to be Banished to the Outer Darkness from which it sprang and those lands should revert back to the use of The People and it will be better cared for.
SnowyOwl
Level 8
July 7, 2022
6
I'm not a monarchist but that was in pretty poor taste.
Enjoy being online again!
Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.Create your free account
Share this post
Related Groups More
Memes R Us
3037 members
Categories
Agnostic does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any content. Read full disclaimer.