As Holy Week continues, Americans are leaving churches – but without God: Learning

As millions gather in Holy Week services across the country, a quiet revolution is unfolding: more and more Americans leave the benches-not because they lose confidence, but find it on their own terms.

A major new study shows that beliefs are not gone, but it is changing. A decade-long research project found that while fewer people participate in the service or identify religion, many are still praying, meditating and sticking to their faith on their own terms.

Nationally representative and probability-based research, published in Socius: Sociological Study in a Dynamic World, tracked over 1,300 adolescents and subsequent adults from 2003 to 2013.

Researchers use survey data, interviews and educational records to understand how religious beliefs and practices develop over time.

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What they found pointed out was a major shift: people are moving away from religious institutions, not from spirituality.

Weekly church attendance dropped from 26% to 8%. The number of young people who said they did not attend the service jumped from 17% to nearly 58%.

Religious beliefs (whether it is a Christian identity, Catholicism or others) have dropped from nearly 89% to 60%.

But faith in God is not that obvious. It dropped from 83% to 66%.

The study found that although there are few people praying every day, the decline is not as steep as church attendance. Meanwhile, the number of people practicing meditation or other mental habits has almost doubled.

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A recent study found that the generational decline of private prayer, especially among young Americans, is unlikely to engage in religious practices outside the formal worship space. (iStock)

Researchers call this “personalization”. Rather than being part of the church or following religious groups, more people are shaping their own spiritual paths – keeping resonance and abandoning the rest.

One of the biggest reasons people leave organized religion? Conflict with political values, especially on issues such as same-sex marriage and traditional gender roles.

Many participants described leaving churches that they believed were judged or disconnected by faith.

A former Catholic said he stopped Mass after hearing a preaching for same-sex marriage.

“I used to like to come to church,” he said. “I'm not.”

Another participant said she believed in God, but “is not the way the church told you.”

Despite the decline in attendance at churches, studies have shown that many older people continue to pray privately, which is not common among younger age groups. (iStock)

The study also found that political views make a difference.

Liberals are more likely to leave religion than conservatives, and support for same-sex marriage and abortion is associated with church attendance and lower religious beliefs. But the trend is not limited to one political group. Attendances only dropped at different rates.

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Researchers believe this is a transformation in how people practice faith, rather than describe it as secularization or religious degradation.

Faith is deviating from formal institutions and moving towards more personal spiritual expressions. Many people leaving organized religions still pray, meditate or say they believe in something bigger.