Foreclosures not Sparing Religion and Holy Institutions

The impact of the present crisis is being felt by religious institutions and subsequently it will tell on the faith and practices of the next generation. However everything is not negative – suffering has brought people together.

Nearly 3,800 private schools are part of The Association for Christian Schools International. It notes that enrollment has decreased by about 5%. Nearly 200 Christian schools have been shut down or have been merged during the previous academic year. In the previous year it was 150

The Association of Theological Schools represents the North American graduate schools. 80 of its members have said that endowments have fallen by 20% or sometimes even more.

The damage done to The National Catholic Education Association is yet to be measured but there is little hope that the results will be anything but good in the areas where foreclosures has been worst. Karen Ristau of the association said, “Some schools that were on the brink — this whole recession has just intensified that.”

On the other hand clergy from different communities are reporting that attendance for worship has increased because people are desperately seeking comfort during these troubled times. But nobody is saying that there is going to be a religious revival across the nation.

In America the trend during the last few decades has been a shift away from belonging to a notified group towards spirituality that is more general. It may or may not be about regular trips to the church. It was observed by The 2008 American Religious Identification Survey that more and more Americans were saying that they were “non-denominational Christians.” An increasing number are claiming that they do not have any religion.

Prior to the crash of the stock market in last autumn, a mere 19% of the congregations in America said that their finances were in shipshape condition. It was 31% in 2000 according to a poll conducted by 2008 Faith Communities Today.

The Protestant group has been the worst affected with their numbers fast declining since many years. They are divided over Biblical interpretations on many subjects like Gay relationships. The national churches have been dependent on endowments and generosity of ageing members but the crisis has stopped the flow drastically.

Mainline denominations like the Episcopal Church, United Methodist Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church etc were compelled to ease out employees and drastically cut budgets. The Methodists were worst affected. Roman Catholic groups have been in troubled waters for quite some time and are now compelled to freeze salaries and cut jobs.

There is slim chance that the tide will turn in the coming years.