It’s perhaps fuelling some of the reasons outlined below.Ī growing number of kids are playing sports. And, arguably, that affluence may be one of the factors moving them further away from a committed engagement with the mission of the local church. I’m simply showing that this seems to be what’s happening.Īnd again…people with money have options. I’m not arguing things should be this way. Naturally, this leaves a huge theological void about ministry to and with the poor, but it helps explain what’s actually happening in the suburbs and increasingly with the re-urbanization of many cities as the affluent move back downtown. There are simply more affluent people than there were decades ago, which may in part explain why so many “average” people indulge their obsessions with granite countertops, designer homes, and decent cars, even without being mega-wealthy. and Canadian personal disposable incomes are at all-time highs.
The middle class is shrinking, but as this New York Times report shows, it’s shrinking (in part) because more of the middle class is becoming upper class.īoth U.S. If your church is at all engaging the middle class, the upper-middle class, or a suburban demographic, an interesting trend is developing. Note: This article was updated and republished on Ap10 Reasons Why Church Attendance Is Declining 1. So…why are even committed attendees attending less often? There are at least 10 reasons. The first key to addressing what’s happening is to understand what’s happening. But attendance is a sign of something deeper that every church leader will have to wrestle with over the next few years. Of course, church attendance is never the goal. It probably marks a seismic shift in how the church will do ministry in the future. It impacts almost every church regardless of size, denomination, or even location. This trend isn’t going away…in fact, it’s accelerating.
#STAY COMMITTED IN GIVING CONTRIBUTIONS SERIES#
This is the first in a series of posts about church attenders who love God, appreciate the local church, and are even involved in the local church, but who simply attend less often. This isn’t a post about why people are leaving the church (that’s a different subject). And more recently, I wrote about why people stop going to church, particularly Millennials.īut the conversation persists and, to many leaders, feels much more urgent. I first wrote about ways to respond to this trend a decade ago. Reasons behind church attendance decline are varied and multi-layered, but a few main culprits include shifting cultural values, busier schedules, and scandal-plagued institutions. One recent survey found a decline from 34% to 28% over two years, of people attending one to two times per month. Sure, the trend has been happening for years (gone are the days when people attended 50 out of 52 Sundays), but the issue has reached a tipping point in the church over the last decade.Įven monthly church attendance is declining. The issue? Even committed church attendees are attending church less often.
#STAY COMMITTED IN GIVING CONTRIBUTIONS HOW TO#
Declining church attendance comes up in a surprising number of conversations – and no one’s quite sure how to respond to it.
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