Church Membership is the Canary in a Coal Mine


The demographics of a society move so slowly the changes are almost not noticeable. Watching data about Christian church participation is like looking at a test tube in a lab. The reactions in the tiny test tube tell use what happens out in a world where large quantities of the chemicals react to one another. Church membership is like the test tube, or, the canary in the coal mine who dies and miners run for their lives. Data, like that for Southern Baptists keep coming in and confirming that the variables which push the data live on.

A most telling statistic is 33% of the membership of Southern Baptist churches is over 65 years old. The general population over 65 years of is 22%. The same must be true of all the large denominations in Christianity including Catholics. The Pentacostal Assemblies of God headquarters in Springfield, MO. laid off 47 employees a years ago and said more layoffs might lie ahead. I cannot find data on its church attendance or membership. 

Rural to urban migration continues and urban residents are less religious than rural. This has been the case for a hundred years of more. Today, young people are not interested in Christianity like their parents or grandparents were. Some industries are in constant decline, newspapers for example. Christianity is another such industry. 

A pundit noted recently in the NY Times that leading candidates for the Republican nomination are not talking as much about their faith as they did in previous election cycles. I would be willing to be Trump does not have another picture taken holding a Bible. That is not to say all Republican candidates are no-God campaigning. One dufus runs ads here in Iowa that mentions "God" twice. I've never heard of him. If he goes nowhere that may signal where God is going. We have to remember Michelle Bachman said God told her to run for President. Since she went nowhere one wonders if God is pleased or angry at her for that claim? (There is no God so never mind.)

Christian church membership and participation remains an interesting statistic to watch because it indicates broad societal change. This change includes changes in attitudes toward religion. 


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