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The Fourth Wall
NICK PASTURA
In a nation where religion and
faith play an important role for
may seem strange that a new
survey shows churches of all
kinds losing members in Ameri-
ca. The decade-long study
shows the health of our religious
institutions has weakened from
2000 to 2010 despite innovative
new ways of conducting ser-
vices, including utilizing new
technology in worship. The sur-
vey collected the data from
11,077 congregations and 120
different Christian, Jewish, and
Muslim denominations.
Financially, one can certainly
understand why there has been a
decline in church health, as the
state of the economy in 2000 -
was much stronger than it is
today. In 2000, the number of
churches that reported excellent
financial health was 31%, but a
decade later ‘that number has
dropped to a mere 14%. The
author of the report releasing
these findings, David A.
Roozen, wrote that the recession
"affected nearly every kind of
congregation equally — large and
small; north, south, east and
west; financially healthy or
struggling before the recession.”
While financial trouble makes
intuitive ~~ sense, tumultuous
times seem to be those in which
people turn to religion and faith
for answers, reassurance, and
hope. The numbers in attend-
ance dropped regardless of this
fact, and as Roozen reports, "no
single category or kind of con-
gregation ... was exempt from
the decadal downsizing of wor-
ship attendance." Many. factors
led to the decline, but according
to the FACT (Faith Communi-
ties Today) survey, more than
25% of congregations had fewer
than 50 attendees, and the aver-
age weekend service numbers
have dropped from 130 to 108.
While popularity of mega
churches with congregations of
2,000 or more grew, those
churches only represent .5% of
American congregations, and
the Evangelical movement be-
hind their creation has plateaued
and is regressing.
Those churches faring best in
"high spiritual vitality" were
those innovative with their ser-
vices. 47% of “innovative and
contemporary” churches report-
ed positively, as opposed to
17% of the non-innovative and
contemporary. One piece of
technological innovation has
been Facebook, with 41% of
churches turning to the social
networking site for communica-
tion within the congregations.
Having grown up in a very
Christian house while attending
a private Evangelical school, I
can completely understand these
numbers; many of the churches
scare them away. I also do not
think this necessarily indicates
any decline in religiosity or
faith. The times are changing
rapidly, and the whole world
and every system therein is
struggling to adjust. Some sys-
tems will change and adapt;
some will be rendered obsolete.
Religion will certainly not be
going anywhere anytime soon,
though, and I doubt that faith
will ever disappear.
Fretting the Freshman 15
MICHAEL PERSCH
Whether you are a freshman new
to college or a returning student
trying to work off some pounds
from a previous year, pretty much
all of us are concerned with the
almost-mythical “Freshman 15.”
Typically when students head to
college they gain somewhere
around 15 pounds. Between a new
diet of “Mill Food,” or simply no
longer playing a sport you did in
high school, it's hard not to gain
some weight. However, if you just
take a few minutes out of your day
and make some smart choices, it
could actually be simple to avoid
getting bigger.
The most looming of tempta-
tions start at the cafeteria, filled
with deep-fried wonders, greasy
potato chips, and, worst of all, ice
cream. As one of the only main
areas to meet up (on our limited
campus), people often stop in and
start snacking while having a con-
versation. Try to make sure you
aren't eating just for something to
do, and watch the choices you
make in the Mill. Nutritional in-
formation can be found online at
http://www.hfs.psu.edu/foodpro/
(click The Mill
Cafe”).
For those of us living in one of
the Penn Gates, the best tip for
helping to maintain your weight is
to just walk. The Gates aren’t that
far, it’ll only take five minutes to
walk there, you get a little bit of
exercise, and, best of all, you save
gas. It seems unnecessary to get
into a car for less than a minute.
I spoke with one student, Maria
Sierraalta, about her mode of exer-
cise. Maria said, “I’ve just been
playing intramural volleyball most
nights, and I’ve already lost a few
pounds.” If sports aren’t really
your thing, what about a hike?
Mont Alto is surrounded by miles
of trails and woods that are great
for anything from taking a quick
lap to making a whole afternoon
of it. Just an hour or two of hiking
can help fight off that large dinner
and dessert you had last night.
If you just take a few minutes of
your day to stop and think, “Do I
really need to eat this?” or, “Do I
really want to watch TV instead of
taking a 20 minute walk?” you
should be able to step on that scale
with confidence. With any luck,
and maybe a few more minutes on
the treadmill, you might even see
that you’ve lost a pound or two.
“Mont Alto,
COURTNEY GONTZ
On September 1, students at
Penn State Mont Alto filed into
the MAC building for a night of
fun, friends, and... condoms?!
Yes folks, condoms. Condom
casino night definitely caught
the eye of many of the incoming
freshmen, leading to a great
turnout. Students played classic
casino games like poker and
blackjack while grabbing free
condoms and learning tips for
staying safe.
Nick Meier, a sophomore this
year, mentioned that it is events
like these that are a great way to
meet new people. When I asked
if he had met anyone, he joking-
ly leaned to the kid next to him,
asked his name, and said, “Yes,
my condom-buddy Nate!”
From there I moved on to a
table that looked really into a
game, so of course I had to &
get the inside scoop. Fresh- {8
man Wade Koser seemed §
really excited to talk abou
his time at condom casino
night. When asked what his
favorite part was, he said he g&
liked that the school wants to §
keep us protected. I then
went on to ask if there were
some other activities that he
would like to see more of,
and he mentioned more
dance parties. When asked
about his least favorite event,
he said bingo. He’ll learn to §
love it soon enough! ;
Jeremy Pagano, also a
freshman this year, seemed to
agree with Wade when it came
to wanting to see more dance
parties. He also seemed to agree
with him when I asked what his
favorite part of the event was: he
liked that the school was pro-
moting safe sex. Jeremy also felt
the urge to share his philosophy
on this, which was, “Wrap it up
all the time, every time.”
Overall, condom casino night
seemed to be a hit. Everyone
seemed to be getting along and
enjoying themselves, while play-
ing such classic casino games as
blackjack and poker. It’s events
like these that seem to give eve-
ryone a break from the stress of
classes, homework, work, or any
other issues they have going on.
It’s a chance to get to know the
people around you and just have
a good time! So next time you
look at your calendar and you
think an event sounds “lame” or
“boring,” check it out — you
might be pleasantly surprised!
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