Musaazi NAMITI | SUNDAY THOUGHT
A few days ago, CNN published an interesting article about the future of churches in the United States. The article cited a docuseries and experts who have projected that an estimated 100,000 churches will close or be repurposed over the next decade.
Many churches, CNN wrote, will be unable to escape this “tsunami” of closings. “Every year the pews are getting emptier and the collection plates getting lighter,” one unnamed pastor said, according to the US broadcaster.
The news could not have been more surprising. We have been told since time immemorial that churches are houses of God. They are used to serve God, and God is aware of their existence. Since God—at least according to believers—is not going anywhere, you would expect churches to be a permanent fixture.
Not in the United States. The country is following in the footsteps of Europe. Last December, Sunday Thought highlighted the same plight for churches in Germany, where they are being turned into bicycle shops.
On a positive note, the article noted that there are recent signs that the gradual decline in church attendance has levelled off. For the first time in 25 years, the number of people attending in-person worship has increased, according to a new study from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research. Worshippers are showing up in greater numbers, the study found, giving more money to congregations and volunteering more.
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Nonetheless, there are pertinent questions many believers would be hard pressed to answer. If, as we have been told countless times, God created people to worship him, why are houses of worship disappearing? What is God doing about this? Why is he not saving the churches?
The article’s opening paragraph started with the Rev Melissa Wagner. It said that in November 2024, she fought back tears as she spoke in her stately Belding United Methodist Church, Michigan, to empty pews. There were about 12 elderly members, sitting far apart from one another in a worship house that can accommodate a thousand people. The Rev Wagner stood alone in the pulpit. There was no choir, no church organist and no children or young families, according to CNN.
Christianity remains the dominant religion in the US, and about 62% of adults identify as Christian. The docuseries CNN cited says an estimated 30% of Americans—about 100 million people—still attend church every week. The numbers can rise if God intervenes. But will he? Can he?
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🔴 Sunday Thought cuts through the noise of prayer, piety and superstition to ask the questions most people avoid. It discusses God, faith and religion—not to preach, but to probe, challenge and sometimes unsettle. Whether you believe, doubt or have stopped looking altogether, Sunday Thought will make you think, question and maybe even rethink everything you thought you knew about the divine—and about life itself.