Religion News Service columnist Thomas Reese discusses the results of a Pew poll on church sermons and music. The survey, he writes, spurs a key question: Are services simply too boring?
A worshipper at a Catholic Church in Salt Lake City in 2021.Protestant churches have always prided themselves on their preaching and music, especially non-Eucharistic churches that rely on the Bible alone to shape their Sunday services. At the other end of the spectrum are Catholic churches, which have a deep Eucharistic tradition and the worst preaching and music in the country.Pew did not intentionally plan to make this assessment.
On the other hand, only 61% of Catholics who regularly attend church in person said they were extremely or very satisfied, a difference of 21 percentage points from Protestants. Similarly, of those Catholics who regularly watch services on TV or online, 57% were extremely or very satisfied, a difference of 19 percentage points.The Second Vatican Council attempted to revive Catholic interest in Scriptures, but with limited success.
Some might argue that the satisfaction rates for Catholics are not as bad as I portray them. A majority of Catholics are extremely or very satisfied with the preaching and music. Yet when compared with Protestants, Catholics are much less satisfied in their church services than are our Protestant brothers and sisters.
Could some of the former Catholics be attracted by better preaching and music in Protestant churches? Are Catholic services simply too boring? Why are Catholics less connected to their congregation?
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