Losing their religion?

In the United States, more and more people are moving away from religion.  Especially young churchgoers.  According to the Guardian, in a 2017 study of people between the ages of 18-22 young adults who had attended church regularly, 7 out of 10 had stopped going to church.

As you can imagine, if fewer people are attending church, more and more churches are closing across the country.  According to the article, about 4,500 Protestant churches closed in 2019, with only 3,000 new churches opening.  That was the first time the number of churches in the US hadn't grown since the evangelical firm started studying the topic.

The Catholic Church has been hit the hardest in the United States.

No church in America has lost more members.  According to Wikipedia, since 1970 weekly church attendance among Catholics has dropped from 55% to 20%, and the number of people who left the church has increased from under 2 million in 1975 to over 30 million today.  Does years and years of abuse inside the church have something to do with this?  You have to wonder.  Read more about that here.

So then what religions are all these people flocking to?

Some are saying New Age traditions like Witchcraft, which includes Wicca, paganism, and folk magic, are one of the fastest growing spiritual paths in America, according to an article on NBC News.

However, I feel most would agree that North Dakota is still a big part of the Bible Belt.

According to Pew Research, these are the most popular regions in North Dakota.

We essentially, have three main religions in North Dakota.

1.  Mainline Protestants-28% in North Dakota.

2.  Catholics-26% in North Dakota.

3.  Evangical Protestants-20% in North Dakota.

Other religions such as Jewish, Buddhism, Muslim, Hindu, and other world faiths all make up about 1% of each of the religions in North Dakota.

Overall, 77% of North Dakotans identify as Christians.

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