People Turn to Religion as Economy Worsens

Today’s New York Times (Bad Times Draw Bigger Crowds to Churches) reports that since September, evangelical pastors nationwide say they have seen such a burst of new interest in church-going that they find themselves contending with powerful conflicting emotions — deep empathy and quiet excitement — as they re-encounter an old piece of religious lore:

Bad times are good for evangelical churches.

“It’s a wonderful time, a great evangelistic opportunity for us,” says the Rev. A. R. Bernard, founder and senior pastor of the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, New York’s largest evangelical congregation, where regulars are arriving earlier to get a seat. “When people are shaken to the core, it can open doors.”

Seizing the opportunity, congregations large and small around the nation are presenting programs of practical advice for people in fiscal straits — from a homegrown series on “Financial Peace” at a Midtown Manhattan church called the Journey, to the “Good Sense” program developed at the 20,000-member Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill., and now offered at churches all over the country.

Many ministers have for the moment abandoned standard sermons on marriage and the Beatitudes to preach instead about the theological meaning of the downturn.

But evangelicals are not the only ones enjoying this increased attendance at church services.  Some large Roman Catholic parishes and mainline Protestant churches around the nation are also experiencing attendance increases — although these increases are not as striking as those reported by congregations describing themselves as evangelical, a term generally applied to churches that stress the literal authority of Scripture and the importance of personal conversion, or being “born again.”

VEJ