Church Attendance in Time of Crisis
A “Pew” Poll
According to a recent Pew Poll, in spite of increased unemployment and other bad news about the economy, a count of weekly “pew’ occupancy has remained about constant through it all. A report issued by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press revealed that “while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has shed over half its value since October 2007, there has been no increase in weekly worship service attendance during the same time period.”
This is contrary to other media reports like the story in the New York Times, written by Paul Vitello, which was headlined “Bad Times Draw Bigger Crowds to Churches.” There is evidence, however, that evangelical churches have seen significant increases in attendance during the time that the economic crisis has worsened. This does not appear to reflect church attendance statistics as a whole. The May 12 USA Today reported that: “Week after week, no matter how wretched the stock market or how high rates for home foreclosures and unemployment claims rise “About 42% say they go to church at least weekly, 12% go monthly; 26% go seldom and 20% never go.”
Church attendance in time of crisis poses an interesting conundrum. If church attendance has remained constant, but evangelical churches are exhibiting large increases in attendance, how can this be? Obviously, non-evangelical churches are suffering attendance decreases measured over the same period. In fact, according to a Gallup study, the percentage of Americans who indicate “no religious preference” during poll samplings has steadily increased from less than 3% 40 years ago to the current level of 12-15%.
There are exceptions to the Pew and Gallup findings about constant church attendance during economic bad times. John Green, a senior fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life states that “real spikes in attendance have occurred only in times of national disaster, such as September 11th 2001, or the Cuban missile crisis.”
Last year, candidate Obama created news with his infamous claim that blue-collar workers in Pennsylvania clung to religion because of bitterness over lost jobs. Americans are now more fearful than then, as unemployment has mounted and house prices have fallen. In 2012, President Obama will face an even larger percentage of voters who are evangelicals and most have suffered to some extent with this economy. As in the past, a unified evangelical vote can make a vital difference.
Can we really afford to subsidize philosophers and mystics in these recessionary times? I say that all churches should pay property tax like any other group.