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Opinion: Attendance may be declining, but churches increasingly finding ways to look outside themselves

Staff File Photo By Abby White / Affordable apartments for older residents were approved earlier this year to fill the empty lot next to Greater Tucker Missionary Baptist Church on North Moore Road.
Staff File Photo By Abby White / Affordable apartments for older residents were approved earlier this year to fill the empty lot next to Greater Tucker Missionary Baptist Church on North Moore Road. Staff File Photo By Abby White / Affordable apartments for older residents were approved earlier this year to fill the empty lot next to Greater Tucker Missionary Baptist Church on North Moore Road.

By Clint Cooper 4 min read

For people of faith in Chattanooga, it’s sad when attendance at houses of worship decline and even more so when those houses of worship are forced to close their doors.

In 2000, 42% of Americans attended religious services weekly or nearly every week. That figure fell to 38% after 2010 and is at 30% now, according to recent studies by Lifeway Research.

Chattanooga, as recently as 2017, was considered the most churchgoing city in the country in research conducted by the Barna Group, a California-based group that focuses on faith issues.

But one need only darken the door of most any local house of worship to see that attendance is sparse compared to the building’s size.

What is heartening, though, is that across the country and here in Chattanooga houses of worship are finding new ways either to use their facilities for community activities or allowing their property to be used for the likes of affordable housing.