LOST FAITH

AN INTERNATIONAL study has shown that the number of people in South Africa who consider themselves religious has dropped from 83% in 2005 to 64% in 2012.

According to the latest global poll released by WIN-Gallup International study, South Africa joins other nations showing a decline in the number of religious people.

The study echoes another one done in the US which showed a decrease in the number of people belonging to churches.

Local church leaders said the trend was noticeable across all age groups, races and genders. The leaders interviewed by the Saturday Dispatch this week agreed that the numbers were dropping, especially in mainstream churches.

The study showed that 59% of people worldwide said they were religious.

South African Council of Churches’ Reverend Mpumelelo Qwabaza said many people had left the church because their expectations were not met.

Qwabaza said despite the number of religious people in the country this had not stopped the rising rate in crime, the abuse of women and child and corruption.

“It is shocking that we do not live in a peaceful society. We always wonder if believers practise what they preach,” he said.

Jesus Christ Family (JCF) Pastor Andile Myemana echoed Qabaza’s view that churches sometimes disappointed people.

“People need to understand that the church is not a religion but a relationship between a person and God. People need to experience God themselves and believe He is there by having a relationship with Him,” he said.

Roman Catholic Church’s Father Christopher Slater said the percentage of people in the world who identified themselves as members of a religious faith showed that religion was still relevant.

Slater said with poverty, wars, economic failures, diseases and natural disasters people needed something to believe in that offered them hope and comfort.

“As modern society progresses and technology becomes more advanced, we still need a way to connect to our spiritual side which is beyond the physical and temporal world,” he said.

Slater said though numbers for mainstream churches were decreasing, the Catholic Church over the past five years had experienced a growth rate of 21% on the continent.

Rhema Umtata Christian Church Pastor Don Phillips said in the past those born into Christian homes claimed they too were Christian but with democracy people could choose what they wanted to follow.

Phillips said people now expressed themselves the way they wanted to and that had led to some denying religion.

“The church needs to be vigorous in community outreaches and make disciples as we have been mandated by Jesus Christ,” Phillips said. He said the traditionalism of mainstream churches caused their decline.

“The biggest growth is in the charismatic churches because they use a contemporary approach.”

Phillips said churches needed to adapt to the times but not compromise the values of God.

Good Shepherd Anglican Church’s Father Nkosiphendule Matshaya disagreed with the study. “People are leaving mainstream churches for these ‘mushroom’ churches. These ‘mushroom’ churches are not included in surveys because they are not recognised,” Matshaya said. He said people chose new churches because they were more liberal than the traditional churches.

The study also showed that those at the lower end of the income scale were 17% more religious than those in the top brackets. —