Christianity is a prominent religion in the United States, three out of four adults identify as Christians. Yet many do not consistently attend church.
According to www.barna.com, 59 percent of people who consider themselves a Christian do not attend church services regularly. Barna Group refers to people who may have a religious faith, use religious media, but do not always attend church as “unattached Christians.”
Most unattached Christians tend to go to church around big holidays the site stated.
Around Tallahassee many unattached Christians are college students that do not make time for church or other religious practices. Although these students were raised in a traditional church going families, once in college, they do not continue the practice.
Brandon Hawkins, a junior political science student at Florida A&M University, said he went to church often as a small child, but as he got older, he didn’t go as much. Now that Hawkins is in college he said, “I usually go to church on major holidays like Easter.”
Others like junior public relations student, Ajonelle Poole, attends church regularly. Poole said she was raised in a home where both her parents were actively involved in church and reading the Bible.
With her father being a deacon and her mother in the choir, she was deeply rooted in the Baptist church. Poole recalls a time when she didn’t always attend church on a regular basis.
“When I was a freshman I didn’t always go to church because of transportation, but I was always religious and prayerful,” she said.
Poole said there is an acronym for people who only attend church on the holidays, CMEs. CMEs attend church on Christmas, Mother’s Day, and Easter.
Most CMEs belong to a religious denomination and were raised in the church, but may not attend a congregational church often.
Many students are involved in extracurricular activities like sports and clubs that may prevent them from going to church. Some may have to conflicting work schedules that leave no time to attend Sunday services, there are a number of reasons why people start to reduce their attendance.
Along with the traditional Sunday morning church, there are home churches, private Bible studies, church services shown on television and even online.
So on this Easter Sunday when you go to church and there are more people there than usual don’t look at them as “unattached” Christians, because maybe they have found a way other than going to church every week to worship.
Ashley Palmer is a senior public relations student from Tallahassee. She can be reached at famuanopinions@gmail.com.