David Laubach presented some startling statistics last week at the Baptist World Alliance gathering in Prague. He stated that church attendance is stagnant or declining in 75% of America's churches. Furthermore, he said that 24% of churches are only growing by getting members from the declining churches - and only 1% of churches are growing from the unchurched, he said.
IS THIS TRUE!?
What do you think? Have you noticed a lot of transfer growth? Are you reaching the "unchurched"? When people come forward and "get saved," are they mostly "unchurched"?
i totally think this is true…the report done by pew a few months ago helps confirm this..but i think that historically speaking, america seems to trend in cultural areas about 100-250 years behind europe, which if you’ve ever been, is spiritually impovershed and 2 generations removed from bibilcal community. they built sanctuaries to hold thousands years ago, which most are now empty, closed down, or converted into bars (in glasgow anyway).
i wrote about this a bit from a pseudo-philosophical standpoint and the comments were very insightful….
http://www.flowerdust.net/2008/05/08/the-inevitable-decline-of-christianity/
Comment by Anne Jackson - Jul 31, 2008 @ 07:52 AM
This is truly sad, if true, but, at the same time, it represents an opportunity that we, as Christ-followers would be foolish to ignore. We need to learn from this and move forward. I know that I ‘ll be praying that we do….
Since I’m not a pastor, I can’t speak to it, other than anecdotally. I have noticed at my church that, at least for the last several years, there have been “transfers,” but they seem to transfer so often that who knows where they will end up, if they ever do…
Comment by Toby - Jul 31, 2008 @ 08:09 AM
Wow, that’s a chilling statistic. It should cause us church leaders to stand up and make whatever changes are needed to start fulfilling the great commission.
Yes, we may be sending missionaries around the world (which is definitely needed) but how are we supposed to answer for our failure to reach those right here at home?
Comment by Brad Ruggles - Jul 31, 2008 @ 08:13 AM
Thanks for your comments, guys. Anne’s blog post on the subject has a lot of interesting discussion!
http://www.flowerdust.net/2008/05/08/the-inevitable-decline-of-christianity/
Comment by Jesse Phillips - Jul 31, 2008 @ 08:58 AM
This is horribly sad. I’ve been so convicted by the Lord lately that despite the fact that we say we care about the lost, many, many churches do their mission work inside the walls of the sanctuary. We want them to come in and then we’ll minister to them. Not that there is anything wrong with ministering within the walls of the church building, but this statistic is obvious that we are doing something wrong.
Comment by PPLandis - Jul 31, 2008 @ 09:34 AM
I think the important question for every church leader to ask is—Is this true of my church? Are we growing (both numerically and spiritually) as a body of believers? If not, why not?
Given the degree of stress, burnout, etc., this same article mentions, I don’t believe the problem is lack of desire or effort. Almost every pastor or church leader I know wants to reach the unchurched, and they’re willing to work themselves to death (literally) to do it. Ironically though, more “church” activity often equals less contact with the unchurched, and even more stress.
What we often fail to ask is whether all our effort is actually helping us to accomplish our mission. Have we considered how much existing programs really cost us in terms of the time, money, energy, etc., we invest in them? Do these efforts position us strategically to accomplish our mission, or do they merely keep us all busy?
In light of Matthew 11:30 (yoke is easy, burden is light), maybe we’re expecting too much or ourselves? Maybe we don’t have to be all things to all people. Maybe God is calling our local church to reach people in our neck of the woods in a more focused, less busy, and stunningly unique way?
Maybe less really is more. Practical question to ask: are we willing to hop off the ministry treadmill long enough to see what God’s vision for our church really is? Are we willing to offer up our current practices as living sacrifices to God, and see what he gives us back?
Comment by Steve Bradley - Jul 31, 2008 @ 09:56 AM
GREAT QUESTION Steve! Thank you for your input!
It does seem so easy for us to get in to a ministry treadmill - and it’s FUN! But your questions is HUGE:
“Do these efforts position us strategically to accomplish our mission, or do they merely keep us all busy?”
HUGE!
Comment by Jesse PHillips - Jul 31, 2008 @ 10:51 AM
Jesse—thanks for you comments. Posted some additional thoughts under a new post on “Church Busyness”—link to that is here: http://blog.visionnavigator.com/2008/07/church-busyness.html
Comment by Steve Bradley - Jul 31, 2008 @ 05:10 PM
wow. wow. wow. I agree with Steve that it is essential to always ask “why?” Why are we doing this or that, and does it further the mission?
Comment by Keith Ingram - Aug 01, 2008 @ 06:00 AM
What’s interesting to me is when people come forward and “get saved” and they have been in church. I term that church growth, but it is not going to show up in statistics such as the one’s presented. Also, we need to remember that some “churches” need to die. They are doing more damage then good to the body.
Comment by Benjamin Karner - Aug 01, 2008 @ 01:45 PM