Central Methodist Church will close, a casualty of our changing religious preferences
Opinion: The closing of a storied church in central Phoenix highlights how much our idea of religious worship has changed.
One of the several old mainline churches along Central Avenue is closing its doors.
Central United Methodist Church has worshipped at the corner of Palm Lane and Central for 74 years in a classic mission-style structure.
As a kid, I’d see it when Dad brought me to his office. As a high schooler, I saw it every time I visited the old Central Phoenix Library on McDowell Road.
My last visit was about five years ago, attending a choral performance with my eldest daughter. Unfortunately, few people have visited since.
After a long decline, the church now hosts an average of just 50 congregants a service. Those who remained voted last month to end the assembly.
Phoenix faith trends mirror the nation's
I love the old places, but Phoenix is tough on history lovers.
Ever since our founding, old buildings are quickly pulled down only to be replaced with glass and metal boxes. Hopefully, Central UMC’s beautiful structure will be spared that disgrace.
But the congregation’s end highlights the steady change in religious worship, not only in Phoenix but across the country.
Over the past five years, United Methodists have lost a quarter of their churches.
More than 7,500 churches disaffiliated, often due to the growing progressivism of its leaders. Similar trends have reduced the numbers of many mainline denominations over the past few decades.
In the 1970s, about 30% of Americans belonged to mainline churches, a number that had dropped to 11% by 2018. A large segment of those people moved to evangelical churches, which grew accordingly.
Many left for suburban megachurches
Beginning in the late 1980s, “seeker-sensitive” megachurches expanded into sprawling campuses in suburban areas. These have only grown in scale and tend to be less interested in theology than creating a welcoming environment.
Why attend a stale old church downtown when you can pull up to a nicely landscaped megachurch, grab a pumpkin-spice latte at the espresso bar, and watch a light-rock show followed by a pep talk about achieving your goals?
The shift to the suburbs is telling. Most families left the urban centers long ago to be replaced by young students and professionals who aren’t nearly as interested in waking up early on Sunday.
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It’s hard for a megachurch to survive downtown, let alone a mainline congregation. But Central UMC’s decline doesn’t address the more modest drop among the nondenominational types.
In 1993, nearly 30% of Americans identified as evangelical, a number that has fallen ever since. Their parents left mainline churches for the megachurch. What happens to today’s younger adults leaving evangelicalism?
Most polling on the issue is several years old, but one evangelical denomination indicates a dramatic drop-off. Only half of kids raised Southern Baptist stayed in that tradition as adults.
Others have left religion all together
Some may leave their old home for a megachurch, but a growing number of Americans identify as “nones” — those with no religious affiliation at all.
In 2002, about 10% of Americans were “nones”. Today, it’s 21%.
Some of these people are atheists, while many more vaguely believe in God or “spirituality.” This group likely grew from the Puritanical anti-religion of the “New Atheists” and the “ex-vangelicals” who found their pastors out of step on current social issues.
Yet, anecdotally at least, a significant number have moved from both the mainline and the megachurch to practice a very old form of worship. Interest in the Catholic Latin Mass and the ancient liturgy of Eastern Orthodoxy have boomed, especially among young believers.
“We want this ethereal experience that is different from everything else in our lives,” one young adult leader told the Associated Press. “We’re returning to the roots of the church.”
The church was in a very different state when Central UMC opened its doors in 1950. Only the Lord knows where Christians will celebrate 74 years from now.
Jon Gabriel, a Mesa resident, is editor-in-chief of Ricochet.com and a contributor to The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. On X, formerly Twitter: @exjon.