Church Attendance in Decline

Church Attendance in Decline

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There are many pundits today who suggest the Church in America is dying but to paraphrase Mark Twain “the reports of the Church’s death have been greatly exaggerated.” In the 1950’s when the dinosaurs still roamed the earth the majority of Americans went to church or at least said they did because it was a cultural value. Though there are many biblically-centered, vibrant and growing churches in America today, there has been a clear shift away from the value of church attendance. Biblical Christianity is growing in America, cultural Christianity is in decline. Most Americans declare themselves spiritual but not religious or church-going. Today less than 20% of Americans attend church regularly. As a result church buildings once seen as an asset to a local community are increasingly being viewed more as a liability. In the eyes of non-church goers church buildings take money off the tax rolls, cause traffic problems and create noise issues. As a result there is an increasing community resistance to churches buying land and building facilities, especially large facilities. To win the hearts of the secular community church buildings will have to be multi-purpose facilities that not only serve the church family but also the broader local community.

The decline in church attendance is forcing churches to build community-centric, multipurpose, environmentally-friendly facilities.

twalker
Written by
THOMAS H. WALKER is the owner and CEO of Walker Church Consulting Group, LLC. Mr. Walker is an inspirational speaker, musician, teacher and award-winning author. His book, “Seeking Wisdom from God” was published by WestBow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson, and for this literary work Mr. Walker received the “Indie Excellence Book Award.” T.H.Walker received his MBA graduating with honors, and was nominated for “Who’s Who among College Scholars” during his graduate studies. Mr. Walker served as Senior Vice President with a National Church Design/Build company for which he consulted and planned over $200 million dollars’ worth of church building projects. Mr. Walker’s 15 years with this National Leader in church design and construction afforded him the privilege of having worked with architects, engineers, construction managers, estimators, and financial advisers. His work experience gained him a much broader, more-in depth, and a “Big” picture understanding not typically available to the majority of Professionals in the field of Church Facility Growth. Identifying how facilities interact with a Church’s ministry and mission takes years of experience to acquire. In other words, there is a difference between square footage and ministry space. Lacking this understanding causes an imbalance in ministry space. Thomas Walker has spent twenty years as a Business and Risk Management Consultant, 12 years as a Church Facilities Growth Consultant, and twenty years as a Marketing Strategist. He has published several articles pertaining to his profession as a Church Facilities Growth Expert as well as the following articles on “Renovation Challenges”, “Overhead”, “The Need Always Comes Before the Money” and “Checking References” in leading industry magazines.