Most people get married in a church. That is what I was told growing up and also the place I officiated most often once I entered pastoral ministry.
Rapid Decline
A quick Google search will yield a wide variety of data detailing the overall decline in churches or religious spaces for wedding ceremonies. I happened to come across a recent RNS article that utilized data from the popular wedding planning website called The Knot. According to their findings, church weddings dropped from 41% of all weddings in 2009 to just 22% in 2017.
Uncertain Future
If the current 46% rate of decline every eight years were to continue, then the percentage of weddings held in churches would be approximately
- 2017: 22%
- 2025: 12%
- 2033: 6.5%
- 2041: 3.5%
- 2049: 1.9%
So What?
I don’t expect that the projections above will reflect the actual shift in church weddings, but do expect that weddings held in sacred spaces as a percentage of all weddings will likely continue to decline over the next several decades.
This reality serves as another reminder that people no longer look to the church – including the church campus or physical buildings – as a primary resource when encountering life transitions.
For those who lead churches and care about ensuring that their many resources are available to those in the wider community this provides significant opportunity alongside growing challenges.
- Are you surprised by the rather rapid decline in church weddings?
- What are a few of the more dramatic changes you’ve noted when it comes to the use of your church’s campus over the last 10 years?