Europe is Closing Many Churches

The Church of England closes about 20 churches per year. Approximately 200 Danish churches have been deemed non-viable or under used. The Roman Catholic Church in Germany has shut about 515 churches in the past decade. In Europe, the Netherlands appears to be the hardest hit according to a January 3-4, 2015 Wall Street Journal article by Naftali Bendavid, with Roman Catholic leaders estimating that two-thirds of their 1,600 churches will be out of commission in a decade, while approximately 700 of the nation's Protestant churches are expected to close within four years. Europe has historically had lower church attendance than the United States and with an aging population, many European churches are no longer viable. In Germany and France only 10 or 11% of Christians report attending church services at least once a week and in Denmark it is only half that. Christianity has clearly suffered the most in Europe. Orthodox Judaism has held relatively steady. Islam has actually grown due to immigration. The Muslim population grew from 4.1% of the European population in 1990 to 6% in 2010. It is expected to grow to 8% or 58 million people by 2013 according to Washington's Pew Research Center. The "Nones" Percentage of population who say they are unaffiliated with any religion, 2010:Pew Research Center Data The United States traditionally has had greater religious participation than the more secular western European nations, but that may not always be the case. Some experts fear we may be following in their path. Approximately 5,000 new churches were added in the U.S. between 2000 and 2010. At the same time the total number of churchgoers fell by 3% according to Scott Thumma of Connecticut's Hartford Seminary. Mr. Thumma indicated that America's churchgoing population is aging. Unless these trends change, he says, "Within another 30 years the situation is the U.S. will be at least as bad as what is currently evident in Europe".