
Church attendance is changing.
As recently as 20 years ago, if ten people became church members (either formally or informally) the average attendance grew by eight or nine people.
Not any more.
Today, if ten people become church members, average attendance grows by five or six.
Here’s why.
According to Thom Rainer, “About 20 years ago, a church member was considered active in the church if he or she attended three times a week. Today, a church member is considered active in the church if he or she attends three times a month.” In many places, it’s even lower than that.
These are not fringe people who are attending that infrequently. And these are not folks who have quit going to church. This is the pattern for active church members.
There are many reasons for this phenomenon, of course, as Thom Rainer goes on to explain in this post. Carey Nieuwhof has a different, but also helpful take on why this is happening in a series that starts with this article.
Since they’ve covered the “why?” so well, I’m not going to try to add to it. Instead, I want to make a couple observations about what it means for the average church.
More Members, Fewer Attenders
First, since it’s harder to increase your average attendance numbers than it used to be, our Sunday service attendance patterns are a less valuable metric for measuring church health than ever. And they were never the be-all, end-all metric for that to begin with.
It’s always been common for pastors to say, “We have 100 people on an average Sunday. But if everyone showed up we’d probably have 150!”
That was true twenty years ago. Today, it could be as many as 200 or more.
But remember, those 200+ people are active and committed to the church. Because of this, they expect to be pastored just like they were when they attended two to three times a week.
We also know that when people attend less often they give less often (even with online giving options). So even a church with a flat attendance pattern is ministering to more people with less access and fewer resources.
We can complain about this, or we can adapt to it.
Aligning Our Structures With Our Theology
Which leads to my second observation. We have to change our church structures.
Theologically we know that the pastor’s Prime Mandate (along with four other types of church leaders) is to equip the saints to do the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12). But our structures are set up to give them the expectation that the pastor will do the work of ministry for them.
Pivot is a part of CT's
Blog Forum. Support the work of CT.
Subscribe and get one year free.
The views of the blogger do not necessarily reflect those of Christianity Today.
Join in the conversation about this post on Facebook.
11 Self-Care Steps For Leaders Who Are Barely Holding On
Motivation is hard. And comfort food feels so good. But it’s more important now than ever to stay healthy.If “We Don’t Go To Church, We Are The Church” Is True, Why Do I Miss Going So Much?
We haven’t ceased to be the church. We’ll never cease to be that. But I miss the gathering.Please Don’t Make “How Many Watched Online?” Our New Ministry Metric
While necessary right now and important in the future, we can't close our eyes to the downsides of online church.I Just Subscribed To More Than 100 Church YouTube Channels – Here’s Why You Should, Too
Here's a simple way to help online churches reach even more people through YouTube.