1.0Church Answershttps://churchanswers.comrich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="1HiHJHzhLi"><a href="https://churchanswers.com/blog/the-biggest-shift-in-american-religion-you-probably-missed/">The Biggest Shift in American Religion You Probably Missed</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://churchanswers.com/blog/the-biggest-shift-in-american-religion-you-probably-missed/embed/#?secret=1HiHJHzhLi" width="600" height="338" title="“The Biggest Shift in American Religion You Probably Missed” — Church Answers" data-secret="1HiHJHzhLi" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); //# sourceURL=https://churchanswers.com/wp-includes/js/wp-embed.min.js /* ]]> */ </script> https://churchanswers.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Pulpit-In-Empty-Church.png1200628Sometimes a major change in society makes all the headlines. For instance, public opinion around the issue of same-sex marriage had been shifting toward support for decades, but when the Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015, everyone saw a tangible manifestation of that societal change. When Barack Obama was elected president in 2008, it was clear evidence that the United States had moved into a more multi-racial future, and while racism had certainly not gone extinct, it was waning. Then, other major shifts often go almost entirely unnoticed because there is no clear inflection point. That’s what happens pretty often in the world of American religion. Many changes in this arena can be described as glacial. The share of Christians drops a single percentage point every two or three years. Because it’s occurring so slowly, it’s hard to detect such a change. However, over time, that leads to some pretty tectonic shifts in American society. Well, I have evidence of one of those changes occurring, and to my knowledge, there were no newspaper headlines about it. The General Social Survey has been tracking trends in American society since 1972. It’s always asked respondents how often they attend a house of worship. What was the most popular option between the early 1970s and 2016? Weekly religious attendance. But in 2018 that changed.