Category: Demographics and Sociology
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Canada set to lose 9,000 church buildings.
National Trust for Canada has recently released a report projecting that out of some 27,600 current church buildings a full 1/3 will be closed or demolished within 10 years. At stake is not simply religious adherence, but a significant change to the built fabric of communities and social identities which depend on a sense of…
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Is a shared ecclesiology across the generations possible?
How can we be the Church together?
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Un-hiding Our Would-Be Black Catholic Sisters
These women have been committed to oblivion by not being allowed to exist in the community record at all.
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Is the Religious Right to Blame for Christianity’s Decline?
We’ve all heard this: liberal churches are shrinking and conservative churches are growing. It’s because – don’t you know? – churches that stand for something attract followers, but churches forever chasing after passing fads do not. People want substance, not gimmicks. Not so fast. At The American Conservative, of all places, George Hawley cites several studies to…
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Ordinary Time: The Need to Move toward Community
As we move into the second week of Winter Ordinary Time, there is something about Nathan Mitchell’s reflection on the deeper meaning of the Baptism of the Lord that bears repeating. In an article entitled, “Jesus’ Vision of a New Community” (Liturgy, vol.1, no. 2 (1980) 37-44) Mitchell makes the point that the Baptism of…
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The Myth of Noble Simplicity
Liturgical clarity does not mean artistic simplicity.
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Fashion Trend Alert: Chapel Veils are Back!
Among undergraduates, we’ve seen a decided uptick in young women who elect to wear the mantilla or “chapel veil”.
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As younger Catholics drift away, the church considers what works
From the Boston Globe: “As Younger Catholics Drift Away, the Church Considers What Works.” Some sobering data here. In 1990, one-third of U.S. children were Catholic. Now it’s 20%. 31.2% of U.S. citizens’ childhood affiliation is Catholic, but 20.9% have it as their current affiliation. The numbers for white mainline Protestants are 18% and 13.5%, a…
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Man, I’m Tired of Inclusive Language
Inclusive language appears to be dead, and those of us who continue to demand it appear obsolete and out-of-touch.