Is Your Church Attendance Declining?
Lovett Weems, distinguished professor of church leadership emeritus at Wesley Theological Seminary, has done some research on declining church attendance. I’d like to share some of his findings and offer some of his conclusions and mine as we seek to help pastors and local churches.
Lovett says attendance among U.S. congregations has consistently declined in the 21st century. The Faith Communities Today 2020 Survey found that since 2015, a majority of congregations with an attendance of 1,500 or more were growing. This is a wonderful trend, but most of our Virginia churches remain far under this number, as many congregations are showing declining numbers in overall worship attendance. Lovett discovered that churches with attendance of 50 or less have the greatest rate of decline.
According to Lovett, we need to reach more people, younger people, and more diverse people. Older churches have trouble with this. They are not used to doing or trying new things, and often church life seems to stay the same. Growing churches tend to frequently try new things. In today’s world we need to reach out to people who are not part of our church. We need to be constantly seeking new ideas, new programs and new ways to serve.
I know one church that is inviting food trucks to provide meals during movie nights and is also sending a coffee truck to a local school to offer coffee to teachers. We need to have appreciation days for firefighters, rescue squads and police precincts. An invitation to a special worship service and lunch can bring these folks out. Another option is to have a mission Sunday where you first have a short worship service and then go and help your community. This opens up doors that have previously been untouched. There are all kinds of ways to reach new people.
Churches need to be creative in financial models. Some of our property is not being used. Some of our buildings are underused and could provide additional sources of income. If you are interested in helping with new financial models, contact us at the Foundation and use other Conference resources.
Lovett suggests we develop new worship models. He says every church needs a digital worship option. Almost every church I know realized this is possible during the pandemic.
Now that the pandemic is over, we still need new worship models. To do this, we should include more people in worship planning. The quality of worship needs to improve week by week.
We need to engage people beyond worship. Worship is extremely important, but there are other ways to engage people. Offering new and different activities on a consistent basis is a step in the right direction. Small groups, Bible studies, picnics, lunches, breakfasts, special music, music camps, vacation Bible school, and purely “fun” events are just a few. Be creative! Get people to engage their faith and ones another. Think about the community you live in (not just the church). The future of the church is found in the people you live among. The congregation must realize what the needs of the community are.
Every church needs to be the church that God needs. Be creative for and in your church today!
By the Rev. Tommy Herndon
Image: Debby Hudson, Joana Godinho, Artem Kniaz, & Steve Jewett, courtesy of Unsplash
