Here's the steeple. Open the door. Where are all the people?

Author: Elizabeth Scarinci

The steeple of the Congregational Church of Middlebury is the most defining characteristic of the town's skyline. But despite the steeples that dominate many Vermont towns, religion is a declining landmark of the state. The most recent American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS), released March 9, showed that a record 34 percent of Vermonters claim no religious affiliation, making Vermont the most secular state in the country, followed by New Hampshire and Maine.

The Program on Public Values at Trinity College recently conducted the last of three surveys from 1990 to 2008. On a national level, Americans who claim no religion almost doubled from 1990 to 2008. In 1990, 8.2 percent claimed no religion, which spiked to 14.2 percent in 2001 and is now at 15 percent. The number of people answering "None" grew in every state.

Vermont's status as the leader of "Nones" is an issue that Vermonters themselves can unfurl. Professor Larry Yarbrough, chair of the Religion department at the College, speculates that part of the reason is that Vermonters are independent and freethinking.

"For the most part, they are not susceptible to be led one way or another, and that definitely comes in [to play]," Yarbrough said.

Anne Brown, communication director of the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont, said that religious institutions could be better communicating their missions and relating them better to Vermonters' lives.

"I think this is a response to the failure of the institutional religious bodies to respond in a creative and helpful way to the search for meaning," Brown said. "We have often been more focused on maintaining tradition than on meeting people where they are with something that works for them."

Yarbrough said he would be interested in a survey that asked the people who claim no religion if they were spiritual but just did not associate with an organized religion. He speculates that many Vermonters who find themselves spiritual would say that they can encounter God in nature.

Associate Professor of Religion Rebecca Kneale Gould said that, in some circles, religion is becoming less relevant, while in other contexts, particularly conservative, evangelical ones, religion is on the rise. In the former category it is often the case that people are turning to nature as an alternative form of spirituality. Gould has published a book called "At Home in Nature: Modern Homesteading and Spiritual Practice in America" which interprets the lives and practices of people who live closer to nature and find spirituality through living harmonious, self-sufficient and anti-consumerist lives.

"In term of the homesteading movement, it is often the case that people are born and raised in Jewish and Christian families, and then these religions cease to be meaningful to them for a lot of reasons," Gould said.

She commented on the cultural shifts in the 1960s that played a role in the rise of homesteading. "These people would say that nature was it, that nature is the ultimate authority and source of meaning," said Gould.

Yarbrough said that on many issues and even among admittedly religious people, "Vermont has been ahead of the curve." He commented that Vermont has been supportive in giving leadership roles to gays and lesbians in the church and has been at the forefront of the movement to allow civil unions to same-sex couples. Brown added that the liberalism of the church has both attracted and discouraged people.

"We have lost some people over the liberal attitudes of many in leadership in the diocese, but we have also gained some who have been attracted by our inclusiveness," Brown said.

St. Mary's Church in Middlebury proves to be the exception to the trend, having seen an increase in attendance over the last several years. Father William Beaudin of St. Mary's Church said that is largely due to the church's relationship to the College, active clergy and social outreach.

"Middlebury is a rarity because it only has one immediate parish community," Beaudin said.

Yarbrough speculates that some people will turn to religion in hard economic times.

"My guess is that religious attendance will go up in some places," he said. "They want to get back to their roots. They want some sense of security and long-term purpose."

Gould stressed the complexity of the issue of reported religious "decline." She said that it is important to recognize that not everyone fits into the categories that the survey provided, which were: "Catholic, Other Christian, Other Religion or None." She proposed the complicated scenario of someone who shies away from the religion that they grew up with, but is still shaped in a major way by that religion. Perhaps after her children are born, she may bring them to church on a more regular basis, but she actually doesn't go along with much of the church doctrine and would never become a member. She primarily likes the hymns, the general spiritual atmosphere and the opportunity for her children to learn something about their religious heritage. But she has a hard time stomaching what others - including the church authorities - think she ought to believe. "How would you categorize a woman like that one?" Gould queried, "Is she religious or non-religious?"

"Religion is really messy," Gould said. "This survey makes it look structured, but the numbers cover over a situation that is much more complicated than that."

"As a former mentor of mine used to say," Gould concluded, "You can turn people into numbers, but you have to turn them back into people again.