Though the process of secularisation has been slower to take hold in America than in other parts of the rich world, it is now well under way
shadow of Disney’s Magic Kingdom has mostly been a happy experience for Community Presbyterian church in Celebration, Orlando. Its handsome white building, with storybook steeple, was part-funded by a pious niece of Walt. The nearby theme parks have supplied the church with many of its 800-odd members as well as a steady stream of visitors—in the winter, when tourists flock to Florida, the congregation often swells to 1,500.
The result could be a significant reduction in the number of churches in America. David Kinnaman, the president of Barna Group, an evangelical research outfit, reckons that as many as one in five churches—and one in three mainline ones—could close for good within the next 18 months. The end can be swift. After the last priest of St Casimir’s in Lansing, Michigan, retired last year and it became clear there were no priests available to replace him permanently, parishioners wondered whether the 99-year-old church would have to close. Within weeks of lockdown it had done so. “It’s almost like a death in the family,” says Greg Perkowski, a member of the church council.
In the case of small, urban churches this is often because putting aside money that would otherwise be spent on services for the poor is anathema, says Justin Giboney, a political strategist in Atlanta, Georgia. He has helped launch Churches Helping Churches, which has so far provided 121 churches with grants of $3,000 each.
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