Is there a place for religion in modern society?

I can't speak for everyone my age but in my opinion religion still has a significant palce in modern society. I also cant speak on behalf of my fellow classmates as I have a different experience of religion. For my family, church holds a great place in our family life. All through my childhood I remember every Sunday morning Mum would come up and wake us and there was absolutely no excuse good enough to get you out of going to church. But obviously as children we were not in the slighest bit interested in church. For at church, we would have to go to Sunday School and I didnt enjoy that at all. We learnt all week at school so the last thing I wanted to do was go to school again at the weekend.

Now years later the pressure from Mum has eased with the usual nagging on Sunday changed to a simple request to accomply her.

I always thought that once I finished Sunday School and got confirmed at 12 or 13 that I would never go to church again, I would be free and only go on special occasions. But this was far from the truth!
Yes there have been times when I havent attended church for a long time but generally I go at least every second ween. I even undertook teaching a Sunday School class. Although I dont think I have the same qualities as the people who taught me in my day.

That is why I do believe that the value of religion has changed. In our parish once teenagers are confirmed they dont feel they have a reason to attend church anymore 'their too good for that', maybe it affects their image to a certain extent. But in excess alot of these people are still attending services regularly and keeping youth in the church.

This is all very personally related but on a general note... Ministers in the Church of Ireland differ widely in their deliverence of services. Some are old and stuck in their view that church services should be old fashioned and conducted in a traditional manner. However there are a few out there including my minister (thank goodness!) that are using innovative and modern methods in their deliverence of services. This involves use of powerpoint instead of the traditional hymn book and audience participation during the sermons.

I believe altering services to be more modern is key to the survival of religion in the future.

In conclusion, I feel that yes religion still holds a place in modern society, however now instead of dictating to a community, religion now acts as a support to that community...

This video gives a general view of the changing views in Ireland regarding religion..