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Week In Pictures
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Charlie O'Hara attends Mass at Lexington's Cathedral of Christ the King ”every day, seven days a week.
”It keeps God in front of me,“ said O'Hara, 43, who drives to church each day from Nicholasville.
And while some may find daily church attendance a bit extreme, such religious devotion is not rare among Kentuckians, a recent report shows.
A survey released last week by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life of more than 35,000 people shows that, compared to the entire nation, Kentuckians pray and attend church more often and believe religion is ”very important“ in their lives.
Other Bible Belt states, including the Carolinas, West Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas, also recorded higher percentages in the survey than the U.S. average.
In the report, Kentuckians appeared more religious than Americans as a whole in most categories. Some examples:
■ 93 percent of Kentuckians believed in God or a universal spirit, compared to 88 percent nationwide.
■ 67 percent of Kentuckians believe religion is ”very important“ in their lives, compared to 56 percent nationwide.
■ 70 percent of Kentuckians pray at least once a day, compared to 58 percent nationwide.
As for church attendance, 47 percent of Kentuckians attended a religious service at least once a week, compared to 39 percent of Americans as a whole.
Clergy like the Rev. Frank Brawner, a priest at Christ the King, have seen steady attendance increases. Brawner said the three weekday Masses, at 8 a.m., noon — except for Wednesdays — and 5:30 p.m., draw 160 to 170 worshipers a day.
”During Lent and Advent, or times of tragedy, attendance will be higher, but overall it's pretty stable,“ he said.
Brawner said Catholic churches, and those of other faiths, suffered a drop-off in attendance in the post-1960s, but he's seen a recent ”spiritual revival.“
”We're more filled now than we were three years ago,“ he said. ”Masses that were full are now standing room only. And Masses that were sparsely attended are now nearly full.“
The attendance growth in Kentucky has spurred a boom in church construction in the region, said the Rev. Greg Horn, executive minister of NorthEast Christian Church in Lexington. The church opened on July 1, 2007 and was formed by combining Northern Heights Christian, with a congregation of 180, with Eastside Christian, which had 200 worshipers.
”Now we have about 1,400,“ Horn said.
Rural connections
Lon Oliver, executive director of the Kentucky Appalachian Ministry in Berea, attributes Kentuckians' religious attitudes to the close tie between communities and their churches in rural areas.
”The church still takes its place in the community,“ he said. ”It's still that place where there are autumn festivals.
”I think that keeps the community very vital and gives people a common language and meaning in their lives.“
Pastors also are given higher status in rural areas, he said.
”In Eastern Kentucky particularly, pastors are given a significant role in the life of the community. This might have been typical in other places years ago, but people in Eastern Kentucky still recognize the gifts of local pastors. They play a significant role in schools and community organizations. This helps keep the community and the faithful in a creative tension that strengthens them both.“
Following different paths
Another key finding in the Pew survey is that 60 percent of Kentuckians, compared to 68 percent of Americans, believe there is more than one way to interpret their religion's teachings.
Whitney Praska, of Lexington, was raised a Southern Baptist and is grateful for what she learned because ”everything has brought me to where I am, but I've changed.“
Praska, 25, prefers the word ”spirituality“ to ”religion,“ and said she practices spirituality each day through meditation, prayer, yoga and Asian belief systems.
”They give me an understanding of how we are connected with the earth,“ she said. ”We're all connected.“
Praska sees great value in diverse belief systems for herself and others.
”There are several paths to the same end,“ she said. ”You wouldn't expect everybody to do the same thing, or where would the difference and beauty be?“
