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Sarah Koscielniak of St. Paul might worship in an Ethiopian church one Sunday morning and a Lutheran church the next. Then, she might decide to visit a church that’s affiliated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination.
The 22-year-old is part of a growing national trend – she’s a “church hopper,” people who sample a variety of worship styles. They could attend one church because they like the preaching or the style of music, and move on to another one for Bible study and youth programs.

“I didn’t want to necessarily tie myself to one specific denomination and church,” said Koscielniak, who attends all three churches. “They’re (denominations) important and distinctive, but in this time and age, it’s less so, especially for young people who didn’t grow up thinking their denomination was the absolutely correct one.”
So-called church hoppers typically worship at multiple Christian congregations, often of different denominations, according to a Minneapolis Star Tribune report ( http://bit.ly/SqSXLU ). It’s a trend that worries some pastors, who say church hoppers miss out on a vital sense of community.
Christians have traditionally worshipped at the same church week to week, but churchgoers are beginning to show less loyalty in their quest to meet their spiritual needs, said Scott Thumma, a researcher at the Hartford Institute for Religious Research in Hartford, Conn.
“I think that whole consumer and individualistic impulse in our society has also lapsed over into our religious life,” he said. “Denominational identities still exist and people still think of the differences. But in fact … that is breaking down, the power of that identity to shape the person.”
Evangelical Christians tend to be particularly active church hoppers, Thumma said, but mainline Protestants and Catholics do so, too.
Koscielniak, who was raised in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, said she enjoys see seeing how different churches worship, even when their theologies and doctrines are similar.
Pastors might find it challenging to build relationships with parishioners like her. Religious scholars also note that church hoppers are less likely to volunteer or donate time or money.
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article courtesy of UrbanChristianNews.com

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