There are 350,000 religious congregations in the US and according to the Yellow Pages there are 1,433 religious institutions in the greater Cleveland area. In Cleveland, as well as, across the nation church membership and attendance is declining. This decline is not discriminating amongst denomination. There has been a lot written and a lot of research conducted to uncover the reasons for the decline. The findings range from – the cultural disappearance of guilt to too many online social options to the thought that occasional attendance is the same as regular attendance. For whatever the reasons, in five years the percentage of people unaffiliated with religion has increased from 15% to nearly 20% and continues to rise.
So what does this mean for houses of worship?