Do you still affiliate with the general religious tradition of your childhood? If so, you are among the majority. In his new book, 20 Myths About Religion and Politics in America (Fortress Press, 2022), Ryan P. Burge includes the myth that the growth of the nones (those with no religious affiliation) is largely from people leaving the church (Myth #15, p.165-174). Using widely available data, Burge shows that the growth of nones is actually due to generational replacement and high retention Read More …
Trends
Contrasting Missional Priorities (#1975)
What do you consider to be the church's top missional priority? According to a survey conducted by Barna in 2020, Protestant pastors answers differ dramatically depending on whether or not they are affiliated with a Mainline denomination or not. The chart below summarizes those Barna findings and is one of a number of Barna surveys found in Glenn Packiam's new book, The Resilient Pastor (Baker Books, 2022). So What? As someone who works in the area of local poverty alleviation, Read More …
UCC Membership Decline: 2,193,593 to 773,539 (#1974)
Membership in all Mainline Protestant denominations has been in decline since before I was born. The United Church of Christ's membership decline is not extraordinary or unusual when compared to other Mainline Protestant denominations. Like many authors, I write about what I know and about what matters to me. As a result you'll find the greatest amount of information about membership decline in the two denominations I've invested more of my life in than the rest: United Church of Christ Read More …
Worship Attendance Cut in Half (#1972)
Three common measures of success for local churches are worship attendance, annual budgets, and facilities (sometimes referred to as butts, bucks, and buildings). Worship Attendance Congregations vary widely in size. Comparing them based on membership appears attractive until you learn that membership means different things in different traditions, and even within a given denomination individual congregations have different expectations of how one becomes a member and what one must do to Read More …
Mask Up (#1946)
Back in January, I shared my experience of getting the COVID-19 vaccine. In that post I wrote, "During the COVID-19 pandemic, one clear way to love one’s neighbor is to receive the COVID-19 vaccine." Today, I'd like to add mask wearing as another important way to show love for one's neighbor. My Experience For many months the last two things I did before leaving home were to put on shoes and select a mask for the outing. When the CDC issued new guidance in May stating that masks and Read More …
Latest Church Trends: Membership & Giving (#1943)
The decline of American Christianity has long been the most popular topic at So What Faith. As the pandemic continues, the significance of the decline becomes more apparent both at the macro level and in the lives of individual congregations. Trend 1: Declining Membership in Congregations One data point has received greater consideration this year than any year since I've been a part of the conversation about the decline of American Christianity: church membership. A Gallup article Read More …
My First Complete In Person Worship Experience (#1942)
Until March 2020, I took for granted that nearly every Christian congregation would offer a weekly in person worship experience that would include congregational singing and musical worship leadership by a choir, orchestra, and/or a praise band. Starting in March 2021, I began to learn experientially about the many ways congregations are moving toward a "new normal" or "next normal." During the first two months Mainline Protestant congregations in the Dallas - Fort Worth area were Read More …
My “Next Normal” Communion Experience (#1937)
COVID-19 has forever changed the church. While exactly what the "next normal" of worship will look like will vary regionally and, within regions, between congregations, it will not return to how it was before the pandemic. With this in mind, I included worship changes as one of five changes I expect in the life of the church in the months and years ahead (for more on that check out Giving Up the Church I Always Knew). Returning to Indoor Worship After more than a year of worshipping Read More …
First In Person Worship Service in Florida (#1932)
After not attending indoor worship services for over a year, I re-entered this world in mid-March 2021. Over the next two months I visited 8 different congregations in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area (for more on those experiences check out Pandemic Regathering: 8 Experiences). Earlier today I attended my first indoor service of worship outside the state of Texas since before the onset of the pandemic at Naples United Church of Christ. Preparation I registered for the service Read More …
Pandemic Regathering: 8 Experiences (#1929)
When I first learned about COVID-19, I had no idea what to expect. In March 2020 when in person gatherings of all kind were discontinued, I never imagined it would be more than a year before I would next set foot in a sanctuary to worship alongside other followers of the Way of Jesus (I even blogged about the extended wait in posts like 6 Months Without In Person Worship and 10 Months Without In Person Worship). The First 8 Weeks My journey back to indoor worship and to intentionally Read More …