“Low-intensity” religion: a temptation even for the evangelical faith

“Low-intensity” is an expression that has entered the jargon of the sociology of religion. Unless I’m mistaken, it was Bryan Turner who first used it in his book Religion and Modern Society. Citizenship, Secularization and the State (2011), in his analysis of the contemporary religious phenomenon.

In the current scenario, religions have not disappeared—on the contrary—but religious practice follows institutional, loyal, codified, continuous, and committed paths to a lesser extent, preferring instead a form of religious “consumption” that suits the mood of the moment: hybrid (partly in person, largely digital), nomadic (hopping here and there), intermittent, unpredictable, and situational, following celebrities rather than religious authorities.

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Low-intensity religion is engaging in the moment, short-lived, but once the spotlight fades, everything returns to the way it was before—or almost

Low-intensity religion is comparable to consuming a religious spectacle: it is engaging in the moment, short-lived, and can be changed the next time around; ordinary life remains unaffected by its influences; once the spotlight fades, everything returns to the way it was before—or almost. Religious practice becomes a “commodity,” a consumer good, tailored to the customer’s interests.

Sociologists such as Luca Diotallevi use the term “low intensity” to describe the face of contemporary Italian Catholicism. In books such as The Paradox of Francis: Secularization Between a Religious Boom and the Crisis of Christianity (2019), “Mass Has Faded.” Participation in Religious Rites in Italy from 1993 to 2019 (2024) and, more recently, in essays such as “The Challenge of Leo XIV,” il Mulino (2/2026), pp. 75–84, a situation is described in which Italian Catholics are “low-intensity” Catholics: religious practice is sporadic, ethical living even less so, the value of the parish is almost nonexistent, and yet the trace of Catholicism has not disappeared: it circulates at “low intensity” around the pope’s celebrity and events that attract attention for a brief time.

One wonders whether “low-intensity” religion might also help describe certain phenomena within evangelical churches. Consider megachurches, McChurch, and, more generally, the “new church” movements (Hillsong, Vive, etc.) that reflect these dynamics: highly branded, highly digital, and heavily focused on customized, optional events rather than on stable, widespread commitments.

The antidote to low intensity: a confessing evangelical faith (where creed and life are intertwined) in confessing churches (countercultural, disciple-making communities)

In fact, the ecclesial culture of this model views the church as a provider of entertainment services from whose menu one can choose as much as and whenever one wants. While people expect the church to offer easily digestible products that can keep pace with the entertainment market, each individual remains the center of their own life, and the church is a convenient afterthought.

That said, we would be mistaken to think that “low intensity” describes only phenomena that are geographically distant. In reality, the temptation to live out one’s faith at a low intensity is closer than one might think.

In the micro-reality of Italian evangelical churches, for example, what is the gap between attendance at Sunday worship and attendance at midweek gatherings? If the worship hall is full on Sunday and half-empty on Thursday, isn’t this a sign that the “low-intensity” mode is taking hold? How many believers participate in scheduled church activities: just a few representatives, or the entire community? To what extent do activities take place in person, or how many are pushing to move them to online platforms? How much disaffection exists toward the church as an organization (or institution)? To what extent do people shape their spiritual journey outside the local community (assuming—though this is by no means a given—that they have an intentional spiritual journey at all)?

These and other signs point to how “low-intensity” is a temptation even for small or medium-sized evangelical communities. It seems to be the spirit of the times to which we are all subject in one way or another.

There is only one antidote to low intensity: a confessing evangelical faith (where creed and life are intertwined) in confessing churches (countercultural, disciple-making communities of the Gospel). If and when faith becomes an “afterthought” and the church becomes a service provider to be drawn upon at will, we are already in a state of low intensity. The question is: Is this still evangelical faith?

Leonardo de Chirico, theologian and evangelical pastor in Rome. This article was first published on Loci Communes, translated and re-published with permission.