The Cahills bought it last November for just $232,000, joining a wave of buyers who are scooping up abandoned churches from coast to coast as congregations wither and disappear. Since about 2000, the number of Americans who belong to a church, synagogue or mosque has plummeted from around 70 percent to around 47 percent in 2021. The decline has been attributed to several colliding factors, including younger Americans rejecting organized religion, the rise of regional megachurches, internal church schisms, and even the Covid pandemic.
Small churches have been especially vulnerable. In 2020, the median size of a congregation at an American church had shrunk to just 65, with countless empty buildings left behind.
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