“So often the Catholic faith is passed down from generation to generation,” said the Rev. David Endres, assistant professor of Church History for Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary of the West.
“We have really strong Catholic parishes and schools ... Catholicism provides continuity throughout a lifetime, in terms of involvement in parishes and schools. The expectation is that you continue that participation throughout your life.”
The number of Catholic Church adherents in 2010 decreased by 6.3 percent from 2000 in the seven-county area that includes Montgomery, Greene, Miami, Clark, Champaign, Warren and Butler counties, according to Dale Jones, data analyst for the U.S. Religion Census.
“I think the drop in number of Catholic adherents mirrors the increasing number of Americans who identify themselves as not belonging to any particular religion,” Endres said. “In general terms, younger people are more likely to identify themselves as non-believers compared to older Americans. This is a trend that is being experienced not only by Catholics, but by many other faith groups.”
The next-largest group of adherents for the seven-county area is the non-denominational Christian churches, who had 62,771 members. That group was followed by the Southern Baptist Convention, which had 61,516 adherents; United Methodists, 52,933; and the Christian Churches & Churches of Christ, 25,547.
The data was collected by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies. The data is collected every 10 years. Statisticians collected the 2010 data from 236 religious groups that provided information on the number of congregations and adherents within each state and county.
In 2010, the seven-county area included 115 religious groups of the 236 counted in the U.S. Religion Census.
“Together, they had 1,647 congregations — one for every 946 people,” said Dale Jones, data analystfor the U.S. religion.
Vineyard growing
The Vineyard USA movement showed the largest numeric gain in the area, according to Jones. The movement has grown to 3,547 adherents in 2010 from 1,395 in 2000.
The Vineyard USA movement in Clark County is the fastest-growing religion in the region, gaining 420 members from 2000 to 2010.
The United Methodist Church in Clark County had the county’s highest congregation number — 23 — in 2010, with 5,223 adherents. In 2000, the UMC had 32 congregations and 7,193 adherents.
“There is definitely a lot of growth in the Vineyard movement because (leaders) found creative ways to reach unchurched people,” said Amy Willmann, who co-pastors the Vineyard Church at Springfield, 137 E. Main St., with her husband, Bruce. The church has been in the community since 2000.
“Instead of having this dogmatic belief that there is only one right way to reach people, we’re gleaning the best from all of the traditional church models,” Willmann said. “We find creative ways to reach the current culture without abandoning the foundations of the Christian doctrine.”
The total number of adherents in Montgomery County increased to 259,795 in 2010 from 236,103 in 2000, despite the fact that the county’s population dropped to 535,153 in 2010 from 559,062 in 2000.
The Southern Baptist Convention had the most congregations in the county with 107.
“We are very evangelistic ... I believe that we have more visitation nights than most churches do,” said Pastor Doug Criswell of Grace Baptist Church, 851 S. Elm St. in West Carrollton. “(SBC leaders) still believe in the old school, which is they are not going to come unless you invite them.”
Varying beliefs
When looking at the number of people who do not have any religious affiliation, Montgomery County had 275,358.
Nick Gray, 32, chair of the board for FreeThought Dayton — a community group made up of approximately 350 secular humanists, agnostics and atheists — said he was a teenager when he started questioning Catholic beliefs.
“My parents were not fundamentalist Catholics by any stretch,” he said.
Eventually, Gray began to think of himself as a humanist. Gray believes that the Internet plays a big role in individuals turning to secular humanism.
“There is a lot of things in the Bible that don’t make sense,” said Margarette Shegog, 31, of Huber Heights.
Like Gray, she also started questioning Christian beliefs at a young age. She became critical of what she witnessed as a teen growing up in the United Methodist Church. Now she doesn’t go to church and considers herself an agnostic theist.
“I don’t know if there is a God,” she said. “I don’t need religion to tell me to be a better person or not to lie.”
In Ohio, the United Methodist Church had the largest amount of congregations with 1,893 (out of a total of 13,606) in 2010.
Pastor Sherry Gale of Grace United Methodist Church, 1001 Harvard Blvd. in Dayton, believes that UMC is attractive because of the church’s core beliefs, which include emphasizing God’s free gift of grace, the importance of a relationship with God and the work toward peace and justice.
“People hear about us from our participation in the community, which is making a difference,” Gale said.
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