Church Trends

"The common thread in all of these movements is that congregations are becoming more local. Fewer people desire to drive a long distance to attend a worship service. To state it more positively, people want to attend a house of worship that represents the neighborhood or locale where they live." - Rainer

"Two-thirds of churches have an attendance under 125. The smaller church is the norm, not the exception. And though the news has not been that promising for smaller churches in recent years, I do see some very promising signs for the years ahead. Why do I make such an apparently contrarian statement? Here are five reasons." - Thom Rainer

"Most churchgoers will put up with a change in music style or a different preacher. But don’t mess with a church’s beliefs or there may be an exodus, according to a new study from Nashville-based LifeWay Research." - CToday

"Eighty-one percent of Protestant pastors say their congregation is predominantly made up of one racial or ethnic group. That's down from 86 percent four years ago, according to the study conducted this past Aug. 30-Sept. 18 by LifeWay Research." BPNews

"Americans who identify as agnostic or 'nothing in particular' are four times more likely to change their religious affiliation than Protestants or Catholics." CToday

"Attend a real church in virtual reality," says the website of a VR church established by Los Angeles, California-based Pastor D.J. Soto and whose mission is "to explore and communicate God through virtual reality, augmented reality, and next generation technologies." CPost

Face up to these five realities of church life today

1. Sunday school attendance is no longer an accurate metric
2. Singles ministry is dead
3. Not every church should be a megachurch
4. Young adults are still coming to churches, even to traditional churches
5. Church today takes more hooks, not bigger hooks

"The ACP statistics were released and things are not looking good for the SBC. About the only positive statistic is church planting – there are more of our churches out there. But fewer people are attending them"