Bright white walls, modern furniture, and a log fireplace invite students who are searching for a place of relaxation, connection and ministry.

While these renovations were put in place in hopes of attracting more students, the Wesley Foundation at SIU, like many religious organizations, has not garnered much activity in recent years.

When asked by the analytics firm Gallup this year, “Did you, yourself, happen to attend church, synagogue, mosque or temple in the last seven days, or not?” only 31% of Americans reported yes.

While many Americans might assume that the pandemic is to blame for lower worship attendance. Statistics show America was already declining in the way of attending religious services before the virus hit.

Since the year 1939, when the poll started collecting data, the highest recorded attendance was 49 percent in the years 1955 and 1958.

From that time, the percentage mainly stayed around 40 percent until a drop in 2021 to 29 percent, likely due to the nationwide shutdown. However, in the last two years that percentage has barely rebounded, by a mere 2 percent.

The director of the Wesley Foundation in Carbondale, Sherry Smedshammer, works with college students all the time said the attitude among them seems to be “If I have time to do it, I’ll do it.”

A percentage of those who attended church at the request or requirement of parents don’t see a lot of passion for faith now that they are on their own.

Carbondale  has more than 40 churches with a couple of synagogues and mosques. It is also a town filled with young students learning about the world and developing their own views.

20-year-old student Claudia Bobb shares her story on why she does not attend church anymore despite going every Sunday as a kid.

“In the past couple of years, I have realized through self-education and exposure to the opinions of certain people that there is a lot of discrimination and hypocrisy within religion that I don’t support.”

An unscientific poll of members of the SIU community shows the national trend holds true here.

Out of 90 people responding, 83 percent said that they have attended regular church services in their life, but when asked if they have attended church in the past month, only 41 percent said yes. 53 percent said that it was a life choice they made to stop attending church.

One 20-year-old male respondent wrote, “I stopped attending church when I was about 8 years old, primarily because I felt I didn’t necessarily have to come to a physical place of worship, when I can love god at anytime, anywhere.”

A 47-year-old female said, “I have not found a church that fits my values and beliefs. I have found many want to include political issues/positions, have hypocritical/intolerant positions, or I disagree with their interpretation of the Bible.”

Of those who chose to stop attending church, many gave their reason as something to do with the church rather than their beliefs. Some even stated that they still believe, they just don’t trust the church.

Losing faith in a higher power or just faith in the institution of religion are two different things. But statistics, show churches are not the community focal points like they may have been fifty years ago.

There were some respondents who have defied the social norm and actually started attending church in recent years.

An 18-year old female said it was someone close to her who brought her into church.

“I started attending church again about 3 years ago with my boyfriend because he is very christian (sic). I started going to his church and I loved it and I’m now a part of my church’s worship team.”

Another student, 20-year-old Xavier Preston, had the opposite experience of Bobb. Nervous about moving to college, he looked for a place to be at peace.

“The main thing I looked for was a community of other college students that went to church and had the same beliefs and values that I have.”

For as long as churches, synagogues and mosques have been around, they have been a place to gather, a place of community and connection. So, if people are less likely to go to church, the question is, where are they finding community?

More and more people are finding spaces online to share their opinions and ideas. Social media is coded to specifically show you things you are interested in. This tailored social media feed limits exposure to views opposite of the user. Thus, having those disagreements when out in the real world is not something the newer generation will be used to. There are groups you can join on platforms like Facebook, Discord, and Instagram that are based on one topic of interest.

How does this apply to churches? Are they dying out or adapting? This is what many polls set out to find.

Another Gallup poll looked at how adults are expressing their religion. In the poll taken, 67 percent of participants said that they attended church weekly or almost weekly growing up. Now? 31 percent do.

There are two main factors predicting whether a person in the U.S. will attend church. The first factor is age.

“Fifty-eight percent of adults under age 35 say they went to church every week or  almost every week growing up, compared with 70 percent of adults aged 35 and older.”

The next factor that is dividing many things in society, is political affiliation. How likely are people to stay in a place with conflicting views politically?

Pew research shows that there is a disparity between political parties and church attendance, with Republicans more likely to attend church than Democrats.

Carbondale has remained Democratic in all presidential elections since the year 2000. Because of the university environment there is a lot more diversity and communities joined together together in a place where many are searching for a place to belong. College campuses have so much going on and lots of exposure to other viewpoints, this could be a critical moment in many young people’s religious journey.

In the age of technology many resources are available for religious research at home. There is also a still rather new availability of watching church online. The combination of factors keeps growing that can keep people away from places of worship. Only a continued watch of charts and surveys will tell if religion becomes a less important part of American culture over time.

Advertisement