What does it truly mean to be spiritual in today’s world? Is it a matter of rituals, church pews, and creeds? Or could it be something more personal — a quiet, persistent longing for the Divine expressed in ways that transcend traditional institutions?
For decades, many feared that the rising number of people leaving organized religion signaled a loss of faith in something greater. But recent data paints a more nuanced and hopeful picture: America isn’t becoming less spiritual — it’s becoming differently spiritual.
A recent Pew Research found that the decadeslong decline in American Christianity may be stabilizing. Almost six in ten adults still identified as Christians of one sort or another. This prompts religion sociologists to ask, “Why would the rate of religious disaffiliation suddenly slow after years of steady increase?”
In a long-term study published by Landon Schnabel, an associate professor of sociology at Cornell University, and colleagues in ‘Socius’, explored this profound shift in American religious life. What they discovered was not a mass abandonment of the sacred, but a transformation of how people experience and express it. Many are stepping away from religious institutions not because they’ve lost their sense of the sacred, but because they are seeking a spiritual path that feels more authentic, inclusive, and alive.
Personal journey
This journey is deeply personal. They found that even as traditional markers of religiosity — church attendance, denominational loyalty — decline, many spiritual practices persist or even deepen. People continue to pray, to meditate, to contemplate. They seek divine connection in the quiet moments, in nature, in community, and in the depths of their own hearts.
What’s driving this transformation? At its core is a powerful phenomenon called individualization — the practice of shaping one’s spiritual life around deeply held personal values rather than inherited doctrines or institutional expectations.
This shift becomes particularly clear around moral and ethical questions. One participant in Schnabel’s study poignantly questioned how a faith tradition could condemn a person for who they love while upholding a theology of unconditional compassion. Another spoke of how the very structure of organized religion sometimes hindered, rather than nurtured, their connection to the Divine.
Spiritual but not religious
The result is a more polarized religious landscape. On one side are those who remain devoted to traditional forms and authority. On the other are seekers — the “spiritual but not religious,” the interfaith explorers, the contemplatives without a congregation — who honor the sacred in ways that resonate with their lived experience.
This divergence may seem like fragmentation, but within it lies a profound opportunity. Religious institutions that embrace authenticity, inclusivity, and spiritual depth may find fertile ground for renewal. And those walking solitary paths are discovering that they are not truly alone, but part of a growing chorus of spiritual voices reimagining what it means to live with reverence.
As author and civil rights activist James Baldwin once wrote, “If the concept of God has any validity or any use, it can only be to make us larger, freer, and more loving.” Perhaps that is exactly what this new wave of spirituality is doing — helping us grow, connect, and awaken to the sacred in ourselves and each other.
Photo courtesy Freepik
