Most of the nation has not become church-going as a result of Sept. 11

By Laura Johnston ~ Southeast Missourian

Fewer people are seeking solace in the sanctuaries and prayer chapels of area churches today than did in the days and weeks immediately after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Across the nation, churches opened their doors for vigils as people still in shock came seeking understanding, solace and comfort during a national tragedy. Many churches will do the same today, with special services to remember those killed in the attacks.

The events of last September brought Cape Girardeau residents to churches in numbers not seen before, but while the pews were packed for a few weeks, people returned to their normal routines too quickly, some pastors say.

The Rev. Bob Towner, rector of Christ Episcopal Church, said many people "are looking for a short-term fix." Even with the gravity of the situation, they aren't ready to change their lives, he said.

No revival

Real though they were, the attacks did little to bring revival to the nation. Statistics from the Barna Research Group, a California-based marketing research company, showed that church attendance jumped 25 percent immediately after the events but then dropped back to normal by year's end. Ninety percent of people polled today say that Sept. 11 had no lasting impact on their faith.

While it has been hard to measure how local people's lives have changed, there is a "sense that people have taken stock in their humanity and know that tragedy can strike at any time," said the Rev. Mike Parry, pastor of Fruitland Community Church.

Kristi Howard said the horror of Sept. 11 haunted her.

"For the last six months I haven't thought about it every day," she said. "It used to be that I would think of it every day, something would come up that would bring it to mind."

But if the country is to move toward healing, she said, the events of Sept. 11 have to be pushed aside.

"We have to learn from the past and not forget it, but we can't let it bind us," she said.

Yet many people have chosen avoidance as their reaction, said the Rev. Dr. Clayton Smith, senior pastor of Centenary United Methodist Church.

"We all have that tendency," he said.

As people observe the one-year anniversary of the attacks, religious services can help "clarify our mental and spiritual health," Smith said.

Smith will lead his congregation in two distinct services to commemorate the attacks. The first will be at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and is a candlelight service. Another service will be at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. Holding a morning service was important because it was morning when everyone learned of the tragedy, Smith said.

"As a pastor who counsels people, I can see avoidance and unresolved conflict," he said.

Three camps

People want to position themselves in one of three camps, Smith said. For one group, the terrorist attacks demand retaliation like the bombing of Pearl Harbor; some see the plight of the Afghan people as the focus, just as the Holocaust brought to the world's attention the plight of the Jews; and others don't think America should have responded at all.

The differences are in how people believe the church should respond to the presence of violence.

"There are a lot of lessons to be learned and they are all fuzzy now," Smith said.

ljohnston@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126