Is the church dying out? By April 1, 2021 This week the Washington Post reported on a Gallup poll that says church membership has fallen below the majority in America for the first time. In 2020, less than 50% of American adults attend a church, synagogue, or mosque. Thats down by 20 points since the turn of the century. The article quoted Tara Isabella Burton, author of Strange rites: New Religions for a Godless world. Burton attributes the national decline in religious affiliation to two major trends among younger Americans. First, she points to the broader shifts suggesting a larger distrust of institutions, including police and pharmaceutical companies. Some Americans are disillusioned by the behavior of religious leaders, including the Roman Catholic Churchs sexual abuse scandal and the strong White evangelical alignment with former President Donald Trump.