Recently the Wall Street Journal published an article about two disturbing, yet largely ignored, trends in our society: fewer people are going to church/synagogue regularly, and declining birth rates. As the newspaper pointed out, both of these trends have very broad social and economic significance, and we should be discussing them. I am just going to focus on the first one, the decline in church attendance.

A recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll confirmed the steady, long-term decline in church attendance. In the year 2000, 41% of Americans reported that they attended religious services one or more times each week. Now only 29% report doing so. Again, in 2000, 14% of Americans said that they never attend religious services; now 26% say that they never go to church. And things are even worse among those Americans between the ages of 18-34; in 2000 they report about the same percentage of never going to church as the general population, today 36% report that they do not go to church ever.

It would be a mistake to think that this is only a concern for those of us who work in ministry. Of course it is a concern for us, as decrease attendance leads to less money to operate ministries, which leads to closing of religious schools and churches themselves. However, the decline in church attendance has a wider impact on society. “For generations, churches and synagogues were among the main institutions around which Americans organized their lives. More than just houses of worship, they have been places where Americans unite, find identity and often educate their children. The decline of such communal bonds alters how many Americans identify themselves and find like-minded compatriots” (Gerald F. Seib, “Cradles, Pews and the Societal Shifts Coming to Politics,” Wall Street Journal, June 24, 2019). This is coming at a time when more and more people are reporting that they isolated in facing life’s challenges.

Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron of Los Angeles, who chairs the bishops’ Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, address this declining church attendance trend at the recent meeting of the USCCB. Bishop Barron painted a rather bleak picture as his research indicates that 50% of Catholics 30 years old and younger have left the Church. Most are leaving by the age of 23. For every one person who joins the Church, 6.45 people leave. 

Where are they going? Nowhere, they are becoming what he calls “nones,” they just do not go to any church. Again, Bishop Barron reported that a lot of studies have been done to look at why this is happening, and the number 1 reason these “nones” give is that they no longer believe the Church’s doctrinal teaching. Bishop Barron stated that this is the result of the “dumbing down” of our Faith as it has been presented in catechesis and apologetics. Of course there are other reasons such as relativism, materialism, science/technology, and of course the recent scandal of clergy sexual abuse of children.

To bring this home to us, here at Resurrection Parish, recently Trish and Mariana have removed over 400 families from our parish census data. These were families that we have not heard anything from since 2012: they do not use their envelopes (which is the easiest way to indicate whether they are attending Mass), they did not return their Mega 50/50 tickets for the Spring Fling. 

So, what are we going to do to bring these “nones” back into the fold? I wish I knew. Bishop Barron reported that most of these “nones” are not angry at the Church, they simply are not interested, they do not think religion is relevant to them. Bishop Barron thinks that this is a “silver-lining” because evangelists will not be facing hostility, just ambivalence. Others, including me, think that this is not a good thing; people who are ambivalent are much harder to engage in discussion than those who are passionate, even if it is against religion.

I think that it would be more effective to engage people at their needs and desires. Not just their material needs, but their existential needs and desires. People still ask themselves the “big” questions: Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going? They are still stirred by the transcendental, infinite desires for Truth, Beauty, Justice, Love. Engaging them there will help them see the relevance of God, who alone can fulfill those infinite desires.

Of course, we also need to be better witnesses. We have to clean our house, acknowledge the evil of the misdeeds of deacons, priests and bishops. We need to be compassionate to those who were victimized, so that they can become empowered survivors instead of hurting victims. As Pope Paul VI wrote in Evangelii Nuntiandi, “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses” (#41).