07.24
I read an article today that confirms something that I’ve suspected for quite a while. Sunday morning worship service attendance in the U.S. is declining. Here is the money quote:
“The decline of the mainline Protestant churches started in 1965, and has continued ever since. But attendance loss has not been nearly as dramatic as membership loss. In the 1990s, attendance in mainline churches declined by only 1.9 percent. A very different trend line is apparent from 2001 to 2004. In the last four years, attendance loss has accelerated to a rate eight times faster than was experienced by mainline churches in the 1990s.”
–Dave Olson, The Covenant Companion
This struck me because I think that’s right on the money also. It seems like the decline has happened quickly over just the last few years. It’s not just direct observation that has convinced me of this. It’s things like this flyer I got in the mail the other day from a local church in our area:
Yeeeeeehaaaaaaawwwww!! Anybody for some Sunday morning bluegrass worship? I’m sorry but that’s just goofy. What that says to me is that they are having a difficult time getting people to come to worship and they’re trying everything they can to get people to come. I really see that as a major factor in the whole “contemporary worship” movement. Let’s face it, churches don’t change things unless they have to. And if they are radically changing the worship service then something is evidently wrong. I’ll tell you what I think it is tommorrow.
