A ‘tsunami’ of church closings is poised to remake America

One summer morning, the Rev. Melissa Wagner stepped into the pulpit of her church and delivered a sermon that no pastor ever wants to give.

Wagner fought back tears as she spoke in her stately United Methodist church that had stood in Belding, Michigan, for 120 years. To celebrate their faith and prosperity, the town’s leaders had built a grand edifice with a soaring domed ceiling, massive stained-glass windows and an 8-foot painting of Jesus overlooking the altar.

But on that Sunday in 2024, Wagner spoke to a nearly empty church — about 12 elderly members, sitting far apart from one another in a sanctuary built for a thousand people. Wagner stood alone in the pulpit. There was no choir, no church organist, and no children or young families.

She was delivering a eulogy — not for a person, but for her congregation. She was announcing that their church would close because of dwindling membership.

“You are still the church,” Wagner said as one elderly woman dabbed her eyes with tissue. “And while where you worship will change, the one you worship does not.”

What Wagner experienced with her shrinking congregation is arguably the most urgent challenge facing churches across America. 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.”

This is the challenge that “ Christianity at a Crossroads ,” a new TV documentary series, examines. The comprehensive four-part series, which premieres Thursday on PBS stations, features heart-wrenching scenes like the last days of Belding United Methodist Church. It also shows how mass church closures will hurt communities across America — including people who don’t attend church or care nothing for organized religion.

The filmmakers talk to an astonishing range of churchgoers from leaders such as the Rev. Robert Jeffress, a vocal supporter of President Trump, to the Rev. Adam Hamilton, the Democratic Senate candidate in Kansas, to people who attend a virtual reality church as avatars.

The shadow that hangs over the entire series, though, is the perilous future of the church. Christian leaders have been warning about the decline of American churches decades. What’s new about the PBS series is that it presents portraits of the people and congregations behind this decline, along with specific numbers and a timeframe for the expected church closings.

At the same time, the series offers Christians glimmers of hope: stories of churches that are bucking the trend by adapting, embracing technology and growing their congregations.

Despite churches’ struggles, Christianity remains the dominant religion in America. It’s woven into the fabric of American history as well as the nation’s political and civic culture. About 62% of adults in the US identify as Christian, and the series says that an estimated 30% of Americans — about 100 million people — still attend church every week.

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There are recent signs that the gradual decline in church attendance has leveled off . For the first time in 25 years, the number of people attending in-person worship in the US has increased, according to a new study from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research. Worshippers are showing up in greater numbers, giving more money to congregations and volunteering more, the study found.

But there will be no return to the glory days of the mid-20th century, when almost half of Americans routinely attended a church, synagogue or mosque, the same study concluded.

The filmmaker behind “Christianity at a Crossroads” agrees with that assessment.

“The tsunami is going to continue for a while, says Martin Doblmeier , the founder and president of Journey Films , a production company specializing in movies and TV series about faith.

The docuseries, though, also looks at churches that defy this trend. They include thriving immigrant churches like Korean Central Presbyterian Church in Northern Virginia. Others like Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia, have about 10,000 members and expanded their congregation in recent years by making their church a more attractive destination for people outside their church walls.

“They still have a packed house but now also have about 15,000 people who view them online,” Doblmeier tells CNN. “It’s no longer an in-person church with an online option. It’s an online church with an in-person option. That’s quite intentional, and a sign of the future.”

Some churches have rightly been accused of being partisan, hypocritical and discriminatory toward women and minorities. But film argues that most American churches are “engines of social good.” At a time when the social safety net is fraying and affordability is a midterm-election mantra, churches are stepping into the void.

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Various studies show that regular churchgoers donate more to charity, are more active in politics and more likely to join civic groups. Volunteerism has declined for years in America, but churchgoers step into the gap.

When pews go empty, those outside a church’s walls also suffer, the Rev. Jacqueline J. Lewis , an author, activist and senior pastor at Middle Church in New York City, says in the film.

“In so many neighborhoods, the church is the food pantry, the immigration station,” she says. “This is the place that is (there) for the outsider, the stranger.”

The film explores the reasons that church attendance began declining around the 1960s. Some are well-documented: declining trust in institutions, debates over homosexuality, clergy sex-abuse scandals and the rise of “nones,” those who describe their religious beliefs as “nothing in particular.”

A result of this trend is that thousands of churches across America are now like the United Methodist church in Belding, Michigan. Their peak days are in the rear-view mirror. They often face brutal choices: whether to close or limp along, living off endowments and the tenacity of a few dedicated worshippers.

This was the situation facing the Rev. Matt Braddock, senior pastor at Christ Congregational Church in Silver Spring, Maryland. Membership had dwindled below 100 people, while the sanctuary cost about $400,000 a year to insure and maintain. The pressure to keep the church open became so acute that Braddock developed a migraine headache that lasted for six months.

“Every year was so stressful because we were always cutting corners in every budget to pay for the building,” Braddock tells CNN.

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His church, which is featured in the PBS series, made the difficult decision several years ago to close its building. But they continued to worship by moving into the basement of another church, where Braddock discovered some surprises. He found that he liked the intimacy of worship in small spaces. The church saved enough money to hire staff. Membership stabilized, and pledges are now strong, he says. His headache is now gone.

He says the experience has made him, and his congregation think anew about how the “church” should be defined.

“It was important for me to remind everyone that the church isn’t a building, and it never was,” Braddock says. “It’s the gathering of God’s people. Where we are gathering, God’s always with us, wherever that is. I understand the attachment to a building, but I question whether we should have been attached to the building in the first place.”

But many declining churches don’t adapt. Its leaders don’t demand change, and its members don’t pursue it until it’s too late. Doblmeier, an award-winning filmmaker who has been making documentaries about faith for decades, thinks he knows why.

The same reason many go to church is the same reason why many churches struggle to survive: the allure of the familiar.

“Church is the place you go to because you feel as though it’s not changing,” he says. “People look forward to the same rhythms, prayers and rituals that they’re so used to … This is the one place where they can have comfort and stability.”

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The PBS series spotlights churches that have successfully defied the wave of closings. One example is the Church Project in Texas, a faith community that has returned to the practices of early Christianity by primarily meeting in small groups in members’ homes.

What unites churches that grow?

As the documentary series shows some shared traits — accessible parking, lively music, powerful preaching and efforts to shower visitors with hospitality — seem mundane. But they are non-negotiable elements for growth. The film also spotlights the Church of the Nativity in suburban Baltimore, Maryland, which has learned another key to expansion: make church fun for young people. It draws about 800 kids and youths for its Sunday services.

“They saw early on that if the children want to come, they will bring their parents,” Doblmeier says.

One of American church leaders’ biggest fears is that their country will become more like Western Europe — a “ post-Christian ” landscape filled with empty cathedrals and church buildings converted to condos.

Yet Braddock, the Maryland pastor, has faith. He says humans need community.

“People can get together for other reasons,” he says, “but there’s something important to people with similar spiritual questions and hungers getting together and finding meaning. That doesn’t go away. Having vitality doesn’t mean numerical growth. Churches can still be full of life without having to be megachurches.”

The first Christians worshipped primarily in each other’s homes. They didn’t define the church as a building — it was a “body of believers — it was wherever Christians gathered in Jesus’ name.”

That belief is part of why Christians’ faith lived on, despite persecutions and scandals through the centuries. This is the faith that Wagner, the pastor in Belding, alluded to when she looked out on her mostly empty church and told its remaining members, “the one you worship does not change.”

This is the faith that many churches in America hold onto today. And it also poses their biggest challenge.

How do you hold onto “ God’s unchanging hand” but change just enough to keep filling the pews and collection plates?

In the years ahead, every church will have to answer that question.

一个夏日的早晨，梅丽莎·瓦格纳牧师走上教堂的讲坛，发表了一篇任何牧师都不愿发表的布道。

瓦格纳在她位于密歇根州贝尔丁的庄严的联合卫理公会教堂里发表讲话时，强忍着泪水。这座教堂已经屹立了120年。为了庆祝他们的信仰和繁荣，镇上的领导人建造了一座宏伟的建筑，教堂拥有高耸的穹顶、巨大的彩色玻璃窗，以及一幅俯瞰祭坛的8英尺高的耶稣画像。

但在2024年的那个星期天，瓦格纳面对的是一座几乎空无一人的教堂——大约只有12位年长的教友，他们彼此间隔很远地坐在一个能容纳一千人的圣殿里。瓦格纳独自站在讲台上。没有唱诗班，没有管风琴师，也没有孩子或年轻的家庭。

她当时正在发表悼词——不是为某个人，而是为她的教友们。她宣布，由于教友人数不断减少，他们的教堂将关闭。

“你们仍然是教会的一份子，”瓦格纳说着，一位老妇人正用纸巾擦拭眼泪。“虽然你们的礼拜场所会改变，但你们所敬拜的神不会改变。”

瓦格纳所经历的会众人数锐减，可以说是全美教会面临的最紧迫挑战。专家预测，未来十年，美国将有约10万座教堂关闭或改作他用。许多教堂将无法逃脱这场“关闭浪潮”——一位牧师将这种令人沮丧的趋势描述为：“每年教堂的座位都越来越空，奉献盘里的钱也越来越少。”

这部名为《基督教的十字路口》的全新电视纪录片系列探讨的正是这一挑战。这部内容详实的四集纪录片将于周四在PBS电视台首播，其中不乏令人心碎的场景，例如贝尔丁联合卫理公会教堂的最后时光。影片还揭示了大规模教堂关闭将如何伤害美国各地的社区——包括那些不参加教会活动或对有组织的宗教漠不关心的人。

电影制作人采访了形形色色的教会成员，从特朗普总统的公开支持者罗伯特·杰弗里斯牧师，到堪萨斯州民主党参议员候选人亚当·汉密尔顿牧师，再到以虚拟化身参加虚拟现实教会的人。

然而，笼罩整部剧集的阴影是教会岌岌可危的未来。几十年来，基督教领袖们一直在警告美国教会的衰落。PBS这部剧集的新颖之处在于，它展现了造成这种衰落的教会及其信徒的形象，并提供了具体的数字和预计的教会关闭时间表。

与此同时，该系列节目也为基督徒带来了一线希望：讲述了一些教会逆潮流而行，通过适应和拥抱科技，发展壮大其信众的故事。

尽管教会面临诸多挑战，基督教仍然是美国的主导宗教。它深深融入美国历史以及国家的政治和公民文化之中。约62%的美国成年人自认为是基督徒，该系列报道指出，估计有30%的美国人——约1亿人——仍然每周参加教会活动。

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近期迹象表明，教堂出席人数的逐渐下降趋势已经趋于平缓。哈特福德宗教研究所的一项最新研究显示，美国参加线下礼拜的人数25年来首次出现增长。研究发现，信徒们不仅出席人数更多，向教会捐款也更多，而且参与的志愿服务也更多。

但同一项研究得出结论，20 世纪中叶的辉煌时期不会再回来了，当时几乎一半的美国人经常去教堂、犹太教堂或清真寺。

《基督教的十字路口》的导演也同意这种看法。

“这场海啸还会持续一段时间，”Journey Films 的创始人兼总裁 Martin Doblmeier 说。Journey Films 是一家专门制作有关信仰的电影和电视剧的制作公司。

不过，这部纪录片也关注了一些逆潮流而行的教会。其中包括像弗吉尼亚州北部韩国中央长老教会这样蓬勃发展的移民教会。还有一些教会，例如弗吉尼亚州亚历山大市的阿尔弗雷德街浸信会，拥有约1万名成员，近年来通过提升教会对非信徒的吸引力，扩大了会众规模。

“他们的教堂依然座无虚席，但现在还有大约15000人在线观看，”多布尔迈尔告诉CNN。“这不再是一个提供线上服务的实体教堂，而是一个提供线下服务的线上教堂。这是有意为之，也是未来的发展方向。”

一些教会确实被指责带有党派偏见、虚伪，并且歧视女性和少数族裔。但这部影片认为，大多数美国教会都是“社会公益的引擎”。在社会保障体系日渐脆弱、生活成本成为中期选举热门议题的当下，教会正在填补这一空白。

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多项研究表明，经常参加教会活动的人捐款更多，更积极参与政治活动，也更倾向于加入公民团体。美国的志愿服务参与度多年来一直在下降，但经常参加教会活动的人填补了这一空白。

影片中，纽约市中教堂的高级牧师、作家兼活动家杰奎琳·J·刘易斯牧师说，当教堂的长椅空着时，教堂外的人们也会受到伤害。

“在很多社区，教堂既是食物救济站，又是移民站，”她说。“这里是为局外人、陌生人而设的地方。”

这部电影探讨了20世纪60年代左右教会出席率开始下降的原因。其中一些原因有据可查：对机构的信任度下降、关于同性恋的辩论、神职人员性侵丑闻以及“无宗教信仰者”（即那些自称“没有任何特定宗教信仰”的人）的兴起。

这一趋势导致美国各地成千上万的教堂如今都像密歇根州贝尔丁的联合卫理公会教堂一样，昔日的辉煌已成过往。它们常常面临残酷的选择：要么关闭，要么勉强维持，依靠捐赠基金和少数虔诚信徒的坚持。

这就是马里兰州银泉市基督公理会主任牧师马特·布拉多克牧师面临的困境。教会成员人数锐减至不足百人，而教堂的保险和维护费用每年却高达约40万美元。维持教会运转的压力如此之大，以至于布拉多克牧师患上了持续六个月的偏头痛。

“每年都压力很大，因为我们总是在预算中偷工减料，以支付建筑费用，”布拉多克告诉 CNN。

克里斯托弗·弗隆/盖蒂图片社

他的教会曾出现在PBS的系列纪录片中，几年前他们做出了一个艰难的决定，关闭了原有的教堂建筑。但他们继续进行礼拜，搬到了另一座教堂的地下室。在那里，布拉多克有了一些意想不到的收获。他发现自己喜欢在小空间里进行亲密的礼拜。教会省下了足够的钱来聘请工作人员。他说，教会成员人数稳定了，而且现在的奉献也很充足。他的烦恼也随之消失了。

他说，这段经历让他和他的教友们重新思考“教会”应该如何定义。

“对我来说，重要的是要提醒大家，教会不是一座建筑物，也从来都不是，”布拉多克说。“教会是上帝子民的聚集地。无论我们在哪里聚集，上帝都与我们同在。我理解人们对建筑物的依恋，但我质疑我们当初是否就应该依恋建筑物。”

但许多衰落的教会却不愿做出改变。教会领袖不要求变革，信徒们也不积极寻求改变，直到为时已晚。多布尔迈尔是一位屡获殊荣的电影制作人，几十年来一直拍摄关于信仰的纪录片，他认为他知道个中缘由。

许多人去教堂的原因，也是许多教堂难以生存的原因：熟悉感的诱惑。

“人们去教堂是因为他们觉得那里不会改变，”他说。“人们期待着他们习以为常的节奏、祈祷和仪式……这是他们唯一能获得慰藉和稳定的地方。”

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PBS的系列节目聚焦那些成功抵御住疫情冲击的教会。其中一个例子是位于德克萨斯州的“教会计划”（Church Project），这是一个回归早期基督教传统的信仰团体，主要以小组形式在成员家中聚会。

是什么让不断发展的教会团结在一起？

这部纪录片系列展现了一些共同特征——便捷的停车、欢快的音乐、铿锵有力的布道以及热情好客的服务——这些看似平凡，却是教会发展不可或缺的要素。影片还聚焦于马里兰州巴尔的摩郊区的圣诞教堂，该教堂找到了另一个发展的关键：让年轻人觉得教会活动有趣。如今，该教堂每周日的礼拜活动都能吸引约800名儿童和青少年参加。

“他们很早就发现，如果孩子们想来，他们就会带上父母，”多布尔迈尔说。

美国教会领袖最担心的事情之一是，他们的国家会变得越来越像西欧——一个“后基督教”的景象，到处都是空荡荡的大教堂和改建成公寓的教堂建筑。

然而，马里兰州的牧师布拉多克却怀有信仰。他认为人类需要群体。

他说：“人们聚在一起可能有其他原因，但对于有相似精神疑问和渴望的人来说，聚在一起寻找意义非常重要。这种重要性不会消失。活力并不意味着人数增长。教会不必成为巨型教会也能充满活力。”

早期基督徒主要在彼此家中进行敬拜。他们并没有把教会定义为一座建筑物——教会是一个“信徒团体”——无论基督徒以耶稣的名义聚集在哪里，教会就是他们的场所。

这种信念是基督教信仰能够延续至今的原因之一，尽管几个世纪以来饱受迫害和丑闻的困扰。贝尔丁的牧师瓦格纳望着几乎空无一人的教堂，对剩下的教友们说：“你们所敬拜的那一位永不改变。”她指的正是这种信念。

这是当今美国许多教会所秉持的信仰，同时也是它们面临的最大挑战。

如何既能坚守“上帝不变的手”，又能做出足够的改变来维持教堂的座无虚席和奉献箱的满满当当？

未来几年，每个教会都必须回答这个问题。