Orthodox Churches( & Others ) Try To Recapture Crowds
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By KATY MCLAUGHLIN
The Associated Press
9/11/02 9:17 AM
The Wall Street Journal
Sept. 11 is often called a day that changed everything. But when it comes to
how Americans
practice religion, it didn't change much of anything.
Despite a brief surge -- churches, synagogues and other spiritual centers
were packed with 25
percent more people immediately after last Sept. 11 -- attendance subsided
within weeks. And now,
a year after the fact, churches from coast to coast report that their pews
are back to normal
occupancy, and in some cases attendance has actually slipped.
At St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Dedham, Mass., attendance fell 10 percent
to 15 percent this
summer from the same time last year. On the Sunday after Sept. 11, the Rev.
Edward Rice was
thrilled when his congregation doubled in size. "But I preached after Martin
Luther King was
assassinated, and after the 1987 stock-market crash," says Rev. Rice.
"Judging by those
experiences, I figured that after Sept. 11 the crowds would thin pretty
quickly."
The Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., has seen its 44 percent surge
in attendance
immediately after the attacks dwindle sharply over the year. In spite of
holding special prayer
services, a patriotic concert and handing out red, white and blue lawn signs
reading "God Bless
America," three-quarters of the newcomers to the Southern Baptist
congregation quit coming.
Ann Madden, who attends Saint Vincent's, a Catholic church in Philadelphia,
says the parish was
flooded with extra visitors last fall. "It's a lot easier to get a seat now,"
she says.
The post-Sept. 11 spiritual "bubble" underscores what seems to be an
immutable fact of American
life. Despite periodic peaks and dips, the percentage of Americans who say
they regularly attend
church has remained steady for decades. It is something like "the CNN effect"
in television. When
calamity strikes, viewers tune in and ratings soar. Then when the smoke
clears, they click the
remote and ratings tail off.
Nationwide, the proportion of churchgoers -- about half of all adults flocked
to religious services just
after Sept. 11 -- has settled back to about 40 percent, according to a study
by Barna Research
Group, which studies religion. Indeed, according to many surveys over three
decades, four in 10
Americans have consistently reported attending religious services.
That proportion may be inflated, however. Several other studies have found
that Americans tend to
exaggerate their church attendance, and the percentage of regular churchgoers
may be closer to 20
percent.
Historically, religious attendance has peaked during times of national
crisis, just as individuals seek
the church as a refuge when their lives are shaken by divorce or a death in
the family. And even a
catastrophic event like Sept. 11 apparently isn't enough to break an
ingrained habit of using religion
as a short-term fix rather than a steady habit. Rev. Rice of Massachusetts
notes that the sex-abuse
scandals in the Roman Catholic church have contributed to broader skepticism
toward organized
religion.
Still, some religious communities have found that the September spikes in
attendance have held up.
Niles Goldstein, rabbi of The New Shul, a synagogue in New York City, says
that he saw "members
coming out of the woodwork," right after the World Trade Center attacks.
But while attendance slacked off after the High Holidays, membership is still
up about 20 percent.
Rabbi Goldstein partially credits the fact that his congregation serves lower
Manhattan, the
neighborhood of the former World Trade Center.
And some Islamic communities have experienced the opposite trajectory.
Immediately after Sept.
11, attendance at the Islamic Society of San Diego mosque plunged about 50
percent for nearly a
month. Spokesman Omaran Abdeen says that several hate crimes, including a
bomb scare and
graffiti on the mosque, scared away congregants. But after about a month,
attendance returned to
normal, and throughout the year it has steadily climbed about 20 percent.
"The Muslim community had a common negative experience, and that always
brings people
together," says Mr. Abdeen. Adds Hodan Hassan, a spokeswoman for the Council
on
American-Islamic Relations: "Anecdotally, I can tell you that attendance is
up at mosques around
the country,"
Given the difficulty of keeping the faithful in the fold, traumatic events
can be opportune times for
organized religion. Many churches tried to encourage newcomers with added
programs after last
fall's terrorist attacks.
St. Paul's in Massachusetts brought in Islamic scholars, for example, and the
nation's 520 Greek
Orthodox Churches added special services throughout the fall.
But Father Nektarios Morrow, a spokesman for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese,
says that these
efforts aren't the key to growing a religious community.
"You can't rely on a tragedy," to augment the church's ranks, he says. "The
clergymen have to
cultivate those relationships over time."
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Sept. 11th Religious Services
Church: Atonement Lutheran Church and the Islamic Society of San Diego
Event: Co-hosting a Day of Unity, featuring verses from the Koran about peace
and remembrance.
City officials will read statements and thanks will be given to supporters of
the Muslim community.
Church: Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, New York
Event: At noon, a Greek Orthodox memorial service for the victims, led by
Archbishop Demetrios.
Foreign Minister of Greece George Papandreou expected to attend.
Church: Grace Cathedral, San Francisco
Event: From 8:46 a.m. to 9:03 a.m., the cathedral bells will toll; at 12:10
p.m., an Episcopal service
will be celebrated in memory of the dead, injured and those in mourning.
Church: Temple Emanu-El, Dallas
Event: Hosting a community-wide event at 7:30 p.m. Rabbis from the, area
synagogues will lead
prayers and songs and two large candles representing the towers will be lit.
Church: Canterbury Cathedral, England
Event: The crypt will be set aside all day for prayer and signing a book of
remembrance; four prayers
throughout the day for Americans; a minute of silence will be observed at
1:46 p.m. local time; and a
Eucharist service will remember those killed.
Alexander Arnakis
wrote:
>
> Nationwide, the proportion of churchgoers -- about half of all adults flocked
>to religious services just after Sept. 11 -- has settled back to about 40 percent,
>according to a study by Barna Research Group, which studies religion. Indeed,
>according to many surveys over three decades, four in 10 Americans have
>consistently reported attending religious services.
>
> That proportion may be inflated, however. Several other studies have found
>that Americans tend to exaggerate their church attendance, and the percentage
>of regular churchgoers may be closer to 20 percent.
>
countries. And the mere fact that the non-churchgoers tend to pay "lip
service" to church attendence testifies to what a religious country
America really is.