Hi First Presbyterian,
It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! I’ve coincidentally heard from multiple people in the past week that the pandemic has made them more open to spirituality. On the other hand, I’ve read a lot of articles in the past year predicting that the changes brought on by the pandemic are going to have lasting negative impacts on church attendance. That got me thinking. Which one is it: are people becoming more spiritual during COVID or less spiritual?
Well, it certainly is true that Americans are feeling more spiritually connected recently. A Pew Research Center survey conducted last year shows that 28% of Americans report their faith is stronger because of the pandemic. This makes sense, because experience and research demonstrate that people turn to spirituality during times of crisis. However, it’s important to remember that, even before the pandemic, the crisis facing the American church was not about spirituality; it was about religiosity. In other words, pre-COVID, there was a large and growing number of people reporting to be “spiritual but not religious.” Many people believed in God. They probably prayed. They just didn’t attend a religious service or affiliate with a religious institution. For me, I wonder about the identity of the 28% of Americans reporting stronger faith during COVID. Are they people who already attended a religious service regularly before COVID? It’s not clear from the data. Is their faith growing stronger as a result of their affiliation with a community of faith, or are they practicing their (strengthened) faith on their own at home? It’s not clear from the data.
If I were to take a guess, I would suppose that the 28% of Americans reporting stronger faith is a mix of people, some of whom are “spiritual but not religious” and others who are “spiritual and religious.” One way of interpreting what that means is to assume that there are probably more people in our community than there were pre-COVID who identify as “spiritual but not religious.” Those of you connected to First Presbyterian Church who are “religious” in this sense (i.e., you attend worship services and participate in our community of faith) know the benefits of being “religious.” You know that being “religious” is not about traditionalism; it’s not about institutionalism. Being “religious” is about having a community of people to join alongside where everyone agrees for at least an hour each week that there is an answer to the world’s brokenness. Being “religious” is about having a community of people where everyone has agreed to selflessly care and pray for each other. Being “religious” is about learning something new about God through another person’s experience and perspective that you couldn’t have known otherwise. Being “religious” is about having a community of people who are committed to working together to love and serve those in need.
People may not be coming to church because of COVID, but they’re turning to God, which means they’re paying attention to God-talk. Let’s set a good example for a growing and captive audience about why being “spiritual and religious” matters.
Peace to you,
Pastor Neff