The Economy and Church Attendance
During the Great Depression, church attendance surged as Americans turned to faith in difficult days. The New York Times recently reported that worship attendance is surging as a result of the economic downturn. Yesterday, however, Gallup reported a different conclusion based on their research: Despite some news reports to the contrary, a review of almost 300,000 interviews conducted by Gallup so far in 2008 shows no evidence that church attendance in America has been increasing late this year as a result of bad economic times. In September, October, November, and so far in December, about 42% of Americans reported that they attended church weekly or almost every week, exactly the same as the percentage who reported attending earlier in the year. Ed Stetzer's take on it. Here at Hayward Wesleyan, our worship attendance has declined 5% from last year. We are seeing two things: 1) The econmic struggle has been a catalyst for some new people to come, and some absentees to return. Th...