Too Far Away

Gallup data confirms the decline.

Church attendance continues to decline for all age groups, "more dramatically" for Generation X (born 1965-1980): [bold added]

Americans in their 40s and 50s often identify with a religion, but they’re also in the thick of raising kids, caring for aging parents and juggling demanding jobs that spill into the weekend. During the pandemic, many got out of the habit of going regularly to religious services and didn’t resume. Some had been drifting away before or became disillusioned by church scandals or positions on social issues in recent years.

The percentage of people ages 39 to 57 who attended a worship service during the week, either in person or online, fell to 28% in 2023, down from 41% in 2020, according to a survey this year. This was the largest percentage-point drop of all age groups examined in the survey of 2,000 adults conducted by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University.

COVID-19 caused the re-prioritization of everything, especially among middle-agers who tend to be the most pressed for time. Post-pandemic, if many people are willing to give up their jobs because they'd rather stay home, it's no surprise that the enthusiasm to bestir themselves to go to to voluntary worship services has also fallen off.

There appear to be no tangible rewards for going to church, or penalties for not going, and deep down a majority seem to believe that tending to bank accounts is more important than accumulating credits in a heaven that may not exist. The Reaper is too far away to be taken seriously, but as he looms larger look for priorities to be reset again.