Religion is declining across the US. But on Easter, remember that spirituality is not | Opinion
In 1983, I preached my first Easter sermon. I was a recent graduate from Princeton Theological Seminary serving my first congregation in Green Bay, Wisconsin. I was excited and nervous. The year I preached my first Easter sermon, my denomination, The United Presbyterian Church, 122 years after splitting in the Civil War, was about to reunite with the Presbyterian Church in the United States and form the Presbyterian Church (USA). The membership of this new denomination was 3,131,228.
Forty years later, on Easter 2023 I will be sitting in a pew celebrating the mystery and power of Easter. As Christians around the world gather to sing “Jesus Christ is Risen Today,” the membership of the denomination where I was ordained and remain a pastor is now 1,193, 513.
That’s a loss of almost two million members. During the 40 years of my ordained ministry, the Presbyterian Church has lost almost two-thirds of its members.
I don’t feel responsible for the loss; all the churches I served grew. But it is a statistic that makes one pause. Presbyterians are not unique. Polls and surveys tell us clearly about the decline in religious affiliation across the country — and across denominational lines. Indeed, last week a Wall Street Journal/NORC poll found that the share of those asked who say religion is “very important to them” has dropped to 39% from 62% in 1998.
The polls that document the decline in religious affiliation and identity also tell us about the growth of those who identify as “spiritual but not religious.” Five years ago, the Pew research center told us that “only 54% of U.S. adults think of themselves as religious, down 11 points since 2012, while far more (75%) say they are spiritual.”
Clearly, religion is in decline, but spirituality is not.
“Spirituality” can be understood in some fairly broad ways. In its most simple form, I understand a spiritual person to be someone who has a sense that there is more to life, a sense of something beyond the self. A “spiritual person” is interested in pondering life’s meaning and senses the mystery of being human, of human connection, and existence.
What has caused this exodus from religious communities? There are a multitude of possible answers, including technology, clergy misconduct, perceived conflicts between science and religion, the role religion on the left and right play as outposts in the culture war, changing families, being too busy and fights over human sexuality. Those are just a few.
The Christian community in Tacoma gathers this year to celebrate Easter in face of the strong numerical decline of folks who identify as religious but not as spiritual. There will be joyous choirs, egg hunts and messages of hope and new life. Some churches will be full. Others will wonder what the future holds. With words and song, churches will celebrate the heart of the Easter message, Jesus. Jesus: the one who shows us what it means to live a life full of God, a life that has meaning and purpose, a spiritual life. Jesus, who taught that the center of that life is unconditional love, a love that cares about the well-being of all people and the world we share.
Forty years from now I don’t expect we will look back and see a religious revival in America. I do expect the spiritual but not religious population will grow and will generate new ways of nourishing the spirit and creating community.
On Easter, we celebrate Jesus’ spiritual way of being, a way that 2,000 years ago the establishment could not destroy. Indeed, a way of life, an identity that I believe will endure even as the churches formed in his name change, decline and in many cases fade away.
The heart of Easter is not religion but love, spirituality and what it means to be human.
Rev. Dave Brown is a writer, poet, interfaith speaker, the creator and host of award-winning Blues Vespers and the former pastor of Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Tacoma.
