The decline of religion in the United States is well documented. In March, Gene Baruch reported in The Seattle Times that Seattle is “the least religious metropolitan area in America.” He wrote that “64 percent of Seattle-area adults never attend religious services or attend fewer than once a year.”
I have seen this decline firsthand. The year after I was ordained in 1982, the Presbyterian Church in the USA
We had 3.1 million members. In 2019, the year after I retired as pastor, our membership had fallen to 1.3 million. During my time as pastor, the Presbyterian Church lost nearly 2 million members. It’s certainly an interesting legacy.
Religion is declining, but what intrigues me is that spirituality is not. The percentage of people who say they are spiritual is increasing. In a 2023 Pew Research Center poll, 81% of U.S. adults said, “There is something spiritual beyond the natural world, even if we can’t see it.” There are no Seattle-based polls, but in my experience, I believe there are many who identify as spiritual among the 64% of adults in the “least religious” American cities who never attend church or religious services.
My question is, why don’t spiritual people see faith communities as a resource, a place to deepen and enhance their spiritual life? Of course, some do. But the numbers show that more and more don’t. There are many realities in modern society that have led to the decline of religion. I think one of the reasons people no longer see faith communities as spiritual resources is because these communities have strayed from their core teachings on faith and spirituality. In fact, some faith communities feel like Democrats or Republicans, with political issues, social justice issues, and prayer at the center of community life.
Let me be clear: as Christian pastors, we should work for social change and justice, and care for the earth. My career has been marked by strong advocacy for the care of the earth, racial justice, and LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion. I am one of the authors of the Presbyterian Church’s policy statement on public education. I am not advocating a retreat from public witness; I am saying that social witness and work for change are not central to the faith community. What is central is spirituality, recalling the words of the poet Mary Oliver:, “Our place in the family of things”
In faith communities today, spiritual nurturing and care can easily get lost amid political identification and resentment at the brokenness of the world. Too often, the first words we hear in worship sound more like a political platform than an invitation to witness the mystery of love and faith.
In the midst of religion’s decline, faith communities need to actively love the world, not just talk about it. Faith communities also have an opportunity to recognize spiritual hunger and be places where people can be centered, witness mystery, and remember the love that surrounds them. People are craving spiritual connection and theological reflection on that connection. The most meaningful and frequent conversations I’ve had with people outside the church about faith have not been about “social issues,” but about spirituality and the mystery we call God.
I don’t feel like the decline of religion in America is being reversed. In our “least religious city,” the spiritual and theological hunger is being satisfied by some faith communities, but it feels like it’s more likely to be nourished by a book club, a yoga group, a conversation with a friend on a walk around Green Lake, or sitting at a table at the local pub.
