Pew Research has been tracking trends in America for many decades. Some of the most recent data is very eye-opening, if not alarming. In 2024, roughly 30% of Americans say they attend church regularly, loosely defined as once a month. Less than 50% of Americans now claim membership to any given church. These trends are much lower than just a few decades ago. Why have we seen such a rapid decline in this country? What seems to be going on?<\/p>\n
Simply going to church does not make you a strong Christian any more than walking into a gym will put you in shape. Moreover, spiritual and emotional growth does not happen automatically. It takes work and dedication. Research shows that couples actively involved in a church tend to have healthier marriages. Families involved in church tend to place faith and spirituality at the center of their lives. Faith is not a ticket to a problem-free life. We all know that. But faith and a strong community will give you the foundational hope and strength you need to face and navigate the many challenges life brings your way.<\/p>\n
Peter Scazzero makes the case that simultaneously being spiritually mature and emotionally immature is impossible. He clearly states that the world constantly sends messages that challenge spiritual growth. These messages include: Happiness is found in accumulating things; security is found in money and status; pleasure, convenience, and comfort are most important; you’re only responsible for yourself. We get bombarded with these secular messages day after day, commercial after commercial. However, becoming spiritually mature will not happen until we learn to develop a sense of emotional health and prioritize ongoing growth. The two go hand in hand. Emotional stability involves recognizing and managing our feelings, having genuine compassion for others, maintaining meaningful relationships, avoiding destructive behavior patterns, loving others without changing them, knowing our limits and weaknesses, resolving conflict maturely, and learning to grieve in healthy ways.<\/p>\n
Our culture seems to ask three predictable questions over and over again. What do you do? What do you own? What do others think of you? These are not the questions that should drive us. Scazzero says these questions must be replace with a different set of questions: How can I be quick to listen and slow to speak? How can I be angry and not sin? How can I monitor my heart and motives? How can I speak the truth in love? How can I become a peacemaker? How can I mourn and embrace change in a healthy way? How can I strive to tell the truth? How can I get rid of all bitterness, rage, and envy? The human condition is anything but simple and easy. We will remain frustrated until we recognize that healthy spirituality is always grounded in emotional maturity, discipline, and commitment, and many are not up for the task. For many people, religion is viewed as an obligation and not as an ongoing opportunity for personal growth, transformation, and connection to God.<\/p>\n
Churches matter because they regularly facilitate this kind of spiritual growth. Neglecting to do the hard work will directly affect every other aspect of our lives.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Clay Stauffer Adapted Pew Research has been tracking trends in America for many decades. Some of the most recent data is very eye-opening, if not alarming. In 2024, roughly 30% of Americans say they attend church regularly, loosely defined as once a month. Less than 50% of Americans now claim membership to any given…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[356],"class_list":["post-69657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-attendance"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33823,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/u-s-church-membership-declines-to-under-50\/","url_meta":{"origin":69657,"position":0},"title":"U.S. Church Membership Declines to Under 50%","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 29, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Source:\u00a0Jeffrey M. Jones, \"U.S. Church Membership Falls Below Majority for First Time,\" Gallup News, 29 March 2021. \"47% of Americans said they belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque, down from 50% in 2018 and 70% in 1999.\" \"The decline in church membership is primarily a function of the increasing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Issues"","block_context":{"text":"Issues","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69267,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-church-that-does-not-have-elders\/","url_meta":{"origin":69657,"position":1},"title":"The Church that Does Not Have Elders","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 12, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kyle Ellison Do you currently attend a church without elders? Are you an evangelist working within a church that does not have elders currently? It is quite common that this occurs at some point in the life of a local New Testament church. What should our view and response\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63574,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/that-church-isnt-doing-anything\/","url_meta":{"origin":69657,"position":2},"title":"That Church Isn’t Doing Anything!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 24, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Philippians 1:24-30 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Periodically criticism is leveled at a church \u2013 not just this church, I\u2019ve heard it said against many churches \u2013 \u201cThat church isn\u2019t doing anything!\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I will admit that there is always room for improvement. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There are many things I wish we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36199,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-i-attend-a-christian-fellowship-instead-of-a-church-while-at-college\/","url_meta":{"origin":69657,"position":3},"title":"Can I attend an InterVarsity Christian Fellowship instead of a church while at college?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 28, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Jeffrey, Hope you are well. I have been a Christian for 12 years now. I am going to college this fall. I'm very excited. The college I am going to, while not a Christian college per se, has a very active Varsity Christian Fellowship complete with its own\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38730,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-church-buy-and-sell-properties\/","url_meta":{"origin":69657,"position":4},"title":"Can a church buy and sell properties?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I've been thinking a lot about authority and what ways the church is authorized to receive money into the treasury. Freewill offerings are the only means, correct? The church does not have the authority to open a business to support its funds, correct? If those are true, a question\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2383,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-scriptural-to-join-a-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":69657,"position":5},"title":"Is it scriptural to “join” a church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 6, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question about joining a church. I'm a bit at a loss to know how to go forward. This is all rather new to me as my family left \"going to church\" decades ago and have since worshiped with other Christians in homes or fellowships. One of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69657\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}