Church Attendance Trends
**Today I received the most recent edition of the SBC's OnMission magazine. It always includes a statistical section called The Pulse. Over the next few days, I want to share some of the findings and add some comments.**
"According to a 2019 Barna poll, just over half of Christians between the ages 18-35 attend church at least once a month. Ten percent of Christians said they no longer attend, and 44% feel attending church is not an essential part of their faith." (barna.com, 11/13/19)
I began my vocational local church ministry in 1997. In those days regular church attendance was seen as at least weekly, and in my particular situation several times a week.
Apparently those days are now over. Barna's stat proves that younger Christians now feel that monthly church attendance IS regular attendance. Sadly, only about half of professing Christians between 18-35 attend at least monthly. It's more distressing that 10% of self-identified Christians no longer attend church at all, and that nearly half believe that church attendance is no longer a vital part of their faith.
What does the Bible say about church attendance? The writer of Hebrews said this - "Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good woks, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together." (Heb. 10:24-25) He says we should meet together and encourage one another "so much the more" as we await the coming of Christ.
While the Scripture commands us to meet together as local churches, it does not stipulate how often we should meet. What was the custom of the early church? The Bible says the early church met together daily (Acts 2:46, 5:42).
While the Bible doesn't mandate daily gatherings of the church, it does encourage regular assembly with one another. Christians have set aside the Lord's Day (Sunday) for worship. Comparing the command of Scripture with the practice of the early church, we should meet together AT LEAST weekly.
Why would a Christian want to attend church regularly? First and foremost, to be obedient to our Savior Jesus who suffered unimaginably to purchase our salvation. But, we should also want to meet so that we can exercise our spiritual gifts and be encouraged to keep living for Christ. And of course, corporate worship has ALWAYS been a high priority for God's people.
Let's ask ourselves - why are younger Christians less likely to attend church? Perhaps it was because their parents exchanged weekly attendance for bi-weekly attendance, and now they feel comfortable downgrading that to once a month or not at all.
And let's be honest - some churches appear to be irrelevant. It's sad that some churches feel more like museums than houses of worship. Younger Christians should not feel like they're walking back into the 70s when they walk through the doors of our church buildings.
The bottom line is that Christians need to get much more serious about church attendance. Once a month simply will not do, and God did not design us to "worship online." COVID-19 has forced us to utilize unusual means in order to worship, but that should be the exception and not the rule.
How about your church attendance? When you are free to meet in person after this pandemic, will your attendance be regular or sporadic? Will you make worship a priority, or will you routinely work in Lord's Day trips to theme parks, the lake, the pool, sporting events, etc?
Each Christian needs to do his/her part, and churches need to start acting like we're ministering in the 21st century rather than yearning for days gone by. We can work together to make worship and fellowship stronger than it's ever been!
"According to a 2019 Barna poll, just over half of Christians between the ages 18-35 attend church at least once a month. Ten percent of Christians said they no longer attend, and 44% feel attending church is not an essential part of their faith." (barna.com, 11/13/19)
I began my vocational local church ministry in 1997. In those days regular church attendance was seen as at least weekly, and in my particular situation several times a week.
Apparently those days are now over. Barna's stat proves that younger Christians now feel that monthly church attendance IS regular attendance. Sadly, only about half of professing Christians between 18-35 attend at least monthly. It's more distressing that 10% of self-identified Christians no longer attend church at all, and that nearly half believe that church attendance is no longer a vital part of their faith.
What does the Bible say about church attendance? The writer of Hebrews said this - "Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good woks, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together." (Heb. 10:24-25) He says we should meet together and encourage one another "so much the more" as we await the coming of Christ.
While the Scripture commands us to meet together as local churches, it does not stipulate how often we should meet. What was the custom of the early church? The Bible says the early church met together daily (Acts 2:46, 5:42).
While the Bible doesn't mandate daily gatherings of the church, it does encourage regular assembly with one another. Christians have set aside the Lord's Day (Sunday) for worship. Comparing the command of Scripture with the practice of the early church, we should meet together AT LEAST weekly.
Why would a Christian want to attend church regularly? First and foremost, to be obedient to our Savior Jesus who suffered unimaginably to purchase our salvation. But, we should also want to meet so that we can exercise our spiritual gifts and be encouraged to keep living for Christ. And of course, corporate worship has ALWAYS been a high priority for God's people.
Let's ask ourselves - why are younger Christians less likely to attend church? Perhaps it was because their parents exchanged weekly attendance for bi-weekly attendance, and now they feel comfortable downgrading that to once a month or not at all.
And let's be honest - some churches appear to be irrelevant. It's sad that some churches feel more like museums than houses of worship. Younger Christians should not feel like they're walking back into the 70s when they walk through the doors of our church buildings.
The bottom line is that Christians need to get much more serious about church attendance. Once a month simply will not do, and God did not design us to "worship online." COVID-19 has forced us to utilize unusual means in order to worship, but that should be the exception and not the rule.
How about your church attendance? When you are free to meet in person after this pandemic, will your attendance be regular or sporadic? Will you make worship a priority, or will you routinely work in Lord's Day trips to theme parks, the lake, the pool, sporting events, etc?
Each Christian needs to do his/her part, and churches need to start acting like we're ministering in the 21st century rather than yearning for days gone by. We can work together to make worship and fellowship stronger than it's ever been!
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