Many nights, Michael Matiscik sits in his church office, shuts out the world and prepares to learn.
Tucked behind his desk, with hundreds of religious books shelved along the walls, he studies his Greek bible, trying not to think too much about the secular world.
Matiscik, the pastor of Christian Fellowship Church in Hammond, said he understands the social climate has changed, but he prides himself on being a man of God, and for him, the gospel will always reign supreme.
But Matiscik, like many other religious leaders across Northwest Indiana is working to understand and adapt in this ever-changing world.
Matiscik said he believes people want to have a convenient relationship with Christianity, adding that a lot of churches also alter their message to cater to people’s desires.
Matiscik not only laments how society has changed over the last few decades, but pastors for preaching primarily about acquiring wealth. He calls it “prosperity gospel.”
“As I see it in Gary, East Chicago and somewhat in Hammond you’re dealing with impoverished people and if you dangle the carrot that God will make you rich it allows them to combine their desire to get out of their economic hole.”
Matiscik said he’s appalled by the increased acceptance of secular behavior, citing society being desensitized to seeing violence and sexual activity on television.
“There isn’t a main TV station sitcom I can let my children watch,” he said. “Most of them are sleeping around and showing sexual relationships between people who aren’t even married. People don’t even think two things about that anymore.”
As society becomes more liberal, Matiscik said it isn’t the church’s duty to evolve with society. And that churches can’t allow the pressure of social issues to water down their message.
“It has to stay the same,” he said referring to the church. “The church has to get the gospel out. And once we get off course and we use social issues to try and change society then we’re never going to impact society.”
Matiscik said the church used to be the epicenter of the community, and despite its waning influence, he remains dedicated to helping the people in his community.
“We work to service the people in this area,” Matiscik said. To help the community the church has a clothing outlet in the basement with racks of used clothing. It looks like Goodwill. Items are free and are open to the public on the second Friday of every month.
Other parishes catering to ethnic congregations said staying true to God’s message and providing a sanctuary in stressful times is the key to maintaining their relevancy.
A 2015 Pew Research Report polling 35,000 people between 2007 and 2014, found the number of adults that considered themselves “religiously affiliated” dropped to 77 percent from 83 percent.
But, the number of religiously affiliated people polled stated that they believed in God remained steady at 97 percent, according to the report.
Just blocks from an ArcelorMittal steel mill in the East Chicago’s Indiana Harbor section, the 90-year-old Our Lady of Guadalupe parish currently has at least 700 parishioners, holding the majority of its Masses in Spanish.
“Every human being that comes or doesn’t come to church, we all have a necessity in our heart…to approach the Lord,” said the Rev. Carlos Martinez, the church pastor, who chose to be interviewed through a translator.
“There’s a lot of people in this world that are so busy with their jobs…that at times they feel the need to stop” and find sanctuary in the church, he said.
On Friday morning, Maria “Lucha” Quiroz, 54, joined a morning congregation of about 30 people there for her birthday.
At 7, she moved with her family from Mexico, settling in East Chicago when her Kansas-born father got a job at the former Inland Steel. Her family has been attending since 1970.
Her own faith helped her through good times and bad, including when her husband died in 2004 and when her now 19-year-old son was born with spina bifida.
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“You have to be devoted,” she said. “You need that devotion.”
At the St. Iakovos Greek Orthodox Church in Valparaiso, Father Jim Greanias, the son of another Greek priest, said the role of the church was to provide stability to its 155 families.
“The biggest way is to remain an oasis in the desert for people,” he said. “I think for a lot of people, they hunger for that. Especially in this day of confusion, they hunger for a place to connect with God.”
“When you have that kind of authenticity behind you, it helps,” he said.
Founded in 1981, the church has adapted to offer services mostly in English and he works to regularly make contact with parishioners in need in his role as a priest and uses Facebook to help spread the gospel.
“We are living in a world where we are getting battered around. So we need that sense of healing,” Greanias said. “We are all struggling in life, we are all struggling to survive.”
“The last thing you need is the church to come out and say you’re wrong you’re bad, you’re terrible,” he said. “You need the church to say, ‘Hey, you’re loved.'”
“But you do need to follow this game plan to find that sense of healing,” he said.
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