15,000 churches could close this year amid religious shift in U.S.
Some data points from Axios:
The unprecedented contraction, expected to continue over the next decade, risks leaving gaps in communities nationwide — particularly rural ones, where churches often are crucial providers of food aid, child care and disaster relief.
The National Council of Churches estimates that 100,000 U.S. churches across denominations will close during the next several years, confirming Rainer's analysis. ... That would amount to roughly a quarter of the nation's 350,000 to 400,000 churches today.
Mainline Protestant denominations such as Methodist, Presbyterian and Lutheran represent nearly all the church closings, said Ryan Burge, a political scientist who writes the "Graphs About Religion" Substack. ... The closures mark a shift away from once-powerful denominations in the U.S. that brought people of diverse political views together, said Burge, author of the upcoming "The Vanishing Church: How the Hollowing Out of Moderate Congregations Is Hurting Democracy, Faith, and Us."