Experts project an estimated 100,000 churches in the US will close or be repurposed over the next decade.

Many churches will be unable to escape this “tsunami” of closings — a grim trajectory one pastor described as, “Every year the pews are getting emptier and the collection plates getting lighter.”

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[–] 26 points 3 days ago (4 children)
  • [–] 18 points 2 days ago* (3 children)

    Agreed, except this is mostly going to be small community churches and not the predatory megachurches that are much more problematic.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 days ago (2 children)

    Yes and no. Small churches still produce large numbers of folks who disbelieve in science and medicine.

    As more people abandon organized religion, perhaps more of them will decide science is peachy. Maybe. Possibly.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 days ago

    perhaps more of them will decide science is peachy. Maybe. Possibly.

    I wish I could share your optimism, but I've seen the closing of smaller and generally more liberal churches in my area lead to a percentage of their congregation migrating to a much less accepting megachurch.

    It's frustrating.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 days ago

    perhaps more of them will decide science is peachy

    And they'll get their "science" from quacks like RFK Jr's cronies. If they could be conned by fundies, they're going to be marks for any other snake-oil salesmen they come into contact with, though there might be a vanishingly small percentage of them who learn from their experience and stop being such flagrant suckers.

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