Latest statistics from the Church of England reveal a fourth consecutive year of growth in attendance at services, although total figures remain lower than before the pandemic and more churches have become smaller than have grown.
Megachurches aren’t forever
While researching historical data for another article this week, I stumbled upon a list of the largest churches in America in 1983-1984, and before I knew it, I was down the rabbit hole of curiosity. This list was published in…
Once the largest Baptist church in Alabama, this congregation is downsizing
Another church that once was among the largest in the Southern Baptist Convention is selling it 19-acre property and downsizing. The property of Dauphin Way Baptist Church in Mobile, Ala., is now listed for sale for $28.5 million. Current pastor…
Find purpose beyond church growth or decline, Burge urges CBF
“Your church probably is not growing, and that’s OK,” Ryan Burge, a leading analyst of politics and religion, told a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship gathering June 24 in St. Louis. But that doesn’t signal a cause for apathy or despair, he…
Burning down the church
Just prior to the 2008 presidential election, 52% of American adults attended worship. As the 2024 election approached, only 31% of the white American population was regularly in church, a decline of 21 percentage points. In 2008, 68% of 18-…
Making sense of denominational decline and church shifting
Evangelical Protestantism continues to be a growing force in American Christianity, as Mainline Protestant denominations continue to decline, but where are these converts coming from? There is very little data showing where Christians go when they convert away from a…
For fastest-growing churches in America, it’s location, location, location
If you want to have a fast-growing church, there are 47 counties in America that fit the ideal criteria for success, according to an empirical analysis by Ryan Burge. Successful church plants today most often meet these four criteria, Burge…
Cal Thomas is the latest to promote false claim of evangelical church growth
Church attendance is falling in the U.S., but some evangelicals continue to comfort themselves with the false idea that their churches alone are still growing. Syndicated columnist Cal Thomas gave the debunked claim fresh legs in his recent nationally syndicated…
Watermelon seeds and lessons in church growth
Growing up in Texas, summers were hot and unbearable. But there was one soul-refreshing snack my family enjoyed on hot Texas summer days — refrigerated watermelon. It was almost a revival experience we indulged in to beat the heat. Ironically,…
Focus on the Family falsely says only liberal churches are declining
Quiet quitting. Conscious uncoupling. The great dechurching. The “dones.” These are the terms coined to describe today’s historic downturn in church affiliation, including evangelical congregations. “More than one in 10 Americans — around 40 million of us — stopped attending…
Do you see what I see? Lots of missing church members on Christmas Eve
Have I told you the story of the funeral I officiated for a 93-year-old woman who had been a faithful member of a Baptist church all her life but had no relation to a church or a minister to lead…
What to do with the nones?
Ryan Burge is rather convincing. As an academic (Eastern Illinois University) social scientist and American Baptist pastor, he has a foot in two of the worlds many of us occupy. He was our guest recently for a day of conversation…