Comments on: NY Times: Seattle has no churches left http://seattle.metblogs.com/2008/04/13/ny-times-seattle-has-no-churches-left/ Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:48:44 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: colin http://seattle.metblogs.com/2008/04/13/ny-times-seattle-has-no-churches-left/comment-page-1/#comment-7322 colin Sun, 13 Apr 2008 22:45:06 +0000 http://seattle.metblogs.com/2008/04/13/ny-times-seattle-has-no-churches-left/#comment-7322 All true, but your points don't equate to "oms over hallelujas" and the idea that we've replaced religion with spirituality and farmer's markets. All true, but your points don’t equate to "oms over hallelujas" and the idea that we’ve replaced religion with spirituality and farmer’s markets.

]]> By: Dylan http://seattle.metblogs.com/2008/04/13/ny-times-seattle-has-no-churches-left/comment-page-1/#comment-7321 Dylan Sun, 13 Apr 2008 21:57:07 +0000 http://seattle.metblogs.com/2008/04/13/ny-times-seattle-has-no-churches-left/#comment-7321 Well, he is right, even if he's blown it completely out of proportion. Seattle has one of the lowest percentages of its population in the US who say they're affiliated with any local religious congregation. IOW, fewer people say they go to church (or temple or synagogue or mosque) in Seattle than just about anywhere else in the country. Seattle's always been odd about religion. The Pentecostal Movement surged through the West after Azusa in 1905, but it never made much of an impact in the Puget Sound area. There was never a Catholic mission here like at Whitman or the California towns, so while Catholicism holds a plurality here, it never was as strong here as it was down the coast. The one group with a lot of success here, other than the Scandinavian Lutherans, has been the Presbyterians. First Pres was at one time the largest Presbyterian church in the world. University Pres is one of the 10 largest Presbyterian churches in the US. Even then, University Pres wouldn't even be one of the ten largest churches in Oklahoma. We like making our own way here. It explains the appeal of Mars Hill, in a way -- we don't want the bells and smells, we want the warehouse with the "experience" we so desire. Of course, you get Mark Driscoll with that, so it's not all about feeling good, I guess. Well, he is right, even if he’s blown it completely out of proportion. Seattle has one of the lowest percentages of its population in the US who say they’re affiliated with any local religious congregation. IOW, fewer people say they go to church (or temple or synagogue or mosque) in Seattle than just about anywhere else in the country.

Seattle’s always been odd about religion. The Pentecostal Movement surged through the West after Azusa in 1905, but it never made much of an impact in the Puget Sound area. There was never a Catholic mission here like at Whitman or the California towns, so while Catholicism holds a plurality here, it never was as strong here as it was down the coast.

The one group with a lot of success here, other than the Scandinavian Lutherans, has been the Presbyterians. First Pres was at one time the largest Presbyterian church in the world. University Pres is one of the 10 largest Presbyterian churches in the US. Even then, University Pres wouldn’t even be one of the ten largest churches in Oklahoma.

We like making our own way here. It explains the appeal of Mars Hill, in a way — we don’t want the bells and smells, we want the warehouse with the "experience" we so desire. Of course, you get Mark Driscoll with that, so it’s not all about feeling good, I guess.

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