churchlessness

English

Etymology

churchless +‎ -ness

Noun

churchlessness (uncountable)

1. Absence of churches.
2. Failure to attend a church.
   • 1963, Edward Schillebeeckx, Christ, the Sacrament of the Encounter with God, page 201:

     Among the several causes of churchlessness, he finds, the most important is the lack of a true familiarity in the Church's approach to us in its liturgy, in its sacraments, in the whole form in which it manifests itself on earth.

   • 2011, Douglas Jacobsen, The World's Christians, page 126:

     Whatever the reason for their churchlessness, there are many Indians who consider themselves followers of Jesus but feel no need to demonstrate that commitment through the act of joining a church.