The roller coaster of the current local and national economy is not affecting just businesses and consumers. Several Michigan Catholic churches are having their own share of ups and downs with the economy as a factor, in different ways – not all of them negative.
As jobs vanish, so too do many people, forced to leave for better or new opportunities Michigan isn’t providing. The United States Census Bureau’s data shows that out of all states in the U.S., Michigan alone has shown a decrease in population (-0.6 percent) as of 2010.
Ann Arbor’s own St. Thomas the Apostle Church has been feeling this impact.
“Attendance has dropped,” said Glen Johnston, the buiness manager for St. Thomas. “We lost people to out-of-state jobs.”
Even so, he says it’s still difficult to pinpoint the exact source of the declines, but until Michigan gets more jobs, it’s not likely there will be much growth.
St. Francis of Assisi Church in Ann Arbor has also seen its numbers on the decline over the past year. Father Jim McDougall, the residing priest, citeed not only job loss, but fewer children being born and an overall lack of interest in formal religion as a whole.
Despite the decrease of attendance, McDougall said that over 250 households still join a year. The church defines a household as an address with anywhere from one to 10 people.
According to Andrea Rathwell, director of accounting and internal services at the Diocese of Lansing, attendance levels of the churches under the diocese’s jurisdiction are taken every two years, the latest done in 2009.
“We’re maintaining,” McDougall said, “but we’re not growing. Ten years ago we were growing.”
St. Anthony’s in Belleville has struggled with economic factors for a long time, having had to close their school in the process, and rent out space to a government-funded preschool.
“We’re keeping up with our budget,” said St. Anthony’s priest, Father Thomas Cusick. “We’re cutting our costs and our hours.”
He does not factor the economy in as the primary source of his parish’s
decline, however.
“Not everyone is OK with change [in general],” he said. “People are confronted with a secular attitude toward life.”
He did say people have been moving out, though it is difficult to tally precisely the numbers in attendance. He said about 30 percent of households attend mass regularly, but the tally is kept by tracking donation envelopes and not everyone who attends uses them.
Whereas economic factors have played a part in the decrease of parish numbers, St. John the Baptist in Ypsilanti has seen an increase instead.
Saran Karmen, head of communication at St. John’s, said that 175 families have joined in the past 18 months, something she cites in part to the arrival of a new priest.
“A change of charge helped us increase,” she said, stating that the parish had previously had the same priest for 20 years.
The new priest in question, Father Robert Roggenbuck, said the economy is a “nuanced” factor.
“A lot of people join because they seek to serve others,” he said. “It’s really remarkable.”
New programs introduced at the church have also incited growth within the last year and a half.
“People have a real need to find need,” Roggenbuck said. “We try to be relevant and reach a wide range of people. We try to do more.”
St. Mary’s of Chelsea also reports attendance on the rise.
Mary Underwood, administrative assistant for St. Mary’s, said there are about 3,300 people who are a part of the parish, with 900 people attending masses on the weekends.
Underwood said there are no real economic factors tied to the numbers, rather people are moving into the area – slowly. She cited the seasons of Lent and Advent as “peak times” for church attendance, as well as active programs like Bible study and catechism for adults and children.
Even as families leave St. Stephen’s parish in New Boston, new ones come in to fill in the gaps, according to Father .John Hedges.
He said he has seen an increase in confessions as well as mass attendance, citing the economy as a factor in spirituality – a benefit despite rising costs of living.
“The impact will become more pronounced in our school,” he said. As gas prices go up, families find it harder to afford the church’s private school
and leave.
“I really don’t worry,” he said. “God will provide.”
