Penna Dexter

In a recent sermon, my pastor declared: “The most significant decision we make every week is whether we will go to church.”

Church attendance is declining as the culture secularizes. Our pastor, Paul Donison, told us that during the pandemic, 40 million Americans stopped going to church and the numbers have continued dropping.

Dr. Ryan Burge is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Eastern Illinois University. He researches religiosity and political behavior in the United States and publishes a substack called “Graphs about Religion.” His findings show religious practice diminishing in all major demographic groups over the last 15-20 years. He says, “every group is leaving religion, even among conservatives and Republicans, the group that is typically tied to religion.”

Polls reveal that about a quarter of Americans identify as evangelicals. But many evangelicals report they’re not attending church. Dr. Burge says, “non attenders are taking on the label.”

When asked about church attendance, self-identified Christians who don’t attend church offer explanations like: "I don’t need to go" or "I can worship on my own" or "I find God in nature."

If you’re in that category, read Psalm 27.

King David faced adversity when surrounded, betrayed, or even exiled. The psalm says the sanctuary is the thing he asks God for. That’s where he longs to be.

It’s in the sanctuary where he sees the splendor of God, where he’s given a new perspective on his circumstances. He seeks to “inquire in his temple” (v.4, ESV). It’s there, he will find “shelter in the day of trouble” (v.5). And he will “offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy” (v.6).

David feared he’d be forsaken, but concluded: “the Lord will take me in” (v.10).

We can worship by an ocean or a tree. But Pastor Donison speaks the truth: we need biblical preaching and sacraments to show us the fullness of who God is.

So, dear one, go to church.