Following is a list of statistics, concerning the condition of the church in America, compiled by Andy McAdams of Pastor to Pastors Ministry
1. 1,400 pastors in America leave the ministry monthly.
2. Less then 20% of churches recognize or appreciated their pastor in some way annually.
3. Only 15% of churches in the United States are growing and just less then 5% of those are growing by conversion growth.
4. 10,000 churches in America disappeared in a five-year period.
5. The number of people in America that Do Not attend church has doubled in the past 15 years.
6. No more then 38% of the population attends church at all and that’s in the Bible belt. The next highest is the Midwest at 25%, West 21% and the Northeast 17%.
7. Though the Bible Belt still boasts the highest percentage of church attendees, yet many of those churches are filled with legalism or extreme liberalism.
8. The vast majority of churches have an attendance of less then 75.
9. In 70 % of the churches in America, the pastor is the only full-time staff person
10. There are almost 100 million unchurched Americans, 11-20% of them claim to be born-again. They have either left the church or never connected for some reason.
11. The median adult attendance per church service in 1999 was 90 people, which is slightly below the 1998 average of 95 adult attendees and in 1997 it was 102. There seems to be a slight gradual decline.
12. Only 1/5 of the adult population attends Sunday school or some sort of Christian training.
13. 23% of church attendees say they attend a small group for growth and accountability.
14. Only 65% of Americans donate to a place of worship. Evangelicals however 85% donate to their church yet only 9% tithe.
15. 20-25% read their Bible consistently, 59% attend church weekly, 16% listen to Christian radio, 7% watch Christian TV, and 11% are held accountable to someone.
16. Only 60% of Christians say they are deeply committed to their faith, yet 85% of evangelicals make this claim.
17. Among the 71% of those who have heard of spiritual gifts, 31% can name a spiritual gift they believe they possess.
18. One in four have a place in the church where they serve.
19. Less then 50% say that the Bible is totally accurate, yet 60% of those that clam to be born-again.
20. 1/3 of church attendees believe they have a personal responsibility to share their faith with others.
21. 56% of the population believe salvation can be earned. Shockingly, 26% are among evangelicals.
22. Giving to charities increased in the past decade yet giving to local churches is declining.
23. Out of 100,000 churches in America less then 2% are considered mega-churches, (1,000 or more).
24. In his book, “Who Shall Lead Them”, Larry Withham said, “20% Of US Churches Have No Future”
25. 1 out of 4 church attendees are considered church hoppers.
26. On average, just 7% of new church attendees are formally unchurched.
27. Leading church analysts Lyle Schaller, George Barna, and Mike Regele stress the alarming truth that over 80% of American Protestant churches are in plateau and/or decline.
28. The typical U.S. Congregation draws an adult crowd that’s 61% female, 39% male.
This gender gap shows up in all age categories.
29. This Sunday almost 25 percent of married, churchgoing women will worship without their husbands.
30. As many as 90 percent of the boys who are being raised in church will abandon it by their 20th birthday. Many of these boys will never return.
31. 88% of children from Evangelical churches will leave the church after High School.
32. And estimated 15 to 20 million people now in America have said they are Christians but they simply don’t want to be a part of the church.
33. Only 4% of America’s churches will ever plant a daughter church.
See the list here.
What you’re missing is all these statistics refer to a man-made earthly organization that is nearly totally without biblical basis. Brick and mortar, ceo’s called Pastors, boards called, well, boards, clergy, laity, one man show, democratic rule, and on and on and on.Instead of the church being a functioning group of believers who really are members of one another, not members of some man made “denomination,” where all contribute for the edification of the body using their god given spiritual gift(s)so that the whole body grows and matures and become ONE.
I’m sorry, but to see the decline of an unbiblical, unspiritual, growth stunting purely earthly institution gives me hope that nowthat the substitute is being removed, perhaps the true church, revealing the nature purpose and power of God will emerge.
Larry
January 4th, 2008
hmmm….
I guess that’s one way to look at it.
And I can certainly agree with what you say the church should be.
Allen
January 4th, 2008
I think it’s way overboard to say our decline is because the church is “totally without biblical basis.” The church has always been incarnational, “Word made flesh,” the mysterious presence of the Body of Christ in a cultural situation. On the other hand, what I found most promising about the statistics is it causes you to see the declining numbers of a denomination in a larger light. It is not enough to ask what we should do to turn around decline of the Methodist church. That is small thinking, because no answer about our decline will be thoughtful unless it explains why ALL mainline denominations are declining in number. Perhaps Larry is right, though, in that this could mean we are heading toward a crisis that is in effect taking up the cross, letting aspects of our institutionality die in order to be reborn. I often say the only uniquely Christian form of transformation involves a cross and resurrection, not doing more or working harder.
Steve
May 26th, 2008