“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

Hebrews 10:25

I hope this finds you well.  I am writing a bit more about worship trends at Calvary and nationwide so that you may be informed about things here, as well as pray for our congregation and its members that we will “not give up meeting together …” 

Of course, summertime is typically a time where attendance at worship services dwindles. Tis makes sense given that in the summer, folks and families travel quite a bit more than other times of the year.  So I am confident our attendance for the year will increase, and I ask you to pardon my decision to make this sort of assessment of our congregation in the of summer!  

As I hinted last week, Calvary is quite normal with regard to worship attendance trends nationally and denominationally.   Even the so-called large “mega churches” experienced significant worship declines in 2020 and 2021, and they have not seen it rebound to pre-pandemic levels either.  A study by Lifeway Research indicates that between 2000 and 2020, half of America’s nearly 350,000 congregations, mostly small to mid-size churches like Calvary, have seen average worship attendance decline by nearly 50%   That is stunning, and sad.  Some of this can be attributed to demographics.

Many small to mid-size churches in our country are in rural areas and those have seen both a “graying” of their populations and a decline in them.  But Calvary is not a rural or small town church, so we can’t take much solace in the fact that we’re normal in this way!   

Birth rates in our country have, of course, declined over the past few decades, and so it’s not surprising there would be fewer kids in proportion to older adults in congregations.

But what is also true is that each successive (younger) generation in America identifies itself less and less as Christian or as a member of a church.  For the first time in recent memory, less than half of Americans surveyed (47%) said they belonged to a church, which is down from 70% in 2020.  

But back to the statistics I reported on last week regarding new members at Calvary.  Most of the 89 new members of our congregation in the last five years are active in worship and other ministries. This is wonderful.  So why is worship attendance down?  Pandemic for sure. What else?  For that I told the Council we need to look at why people join a church in the first place – for often those factors are cited when people stop attending a church as well.   

Most surveys indicate the quality of preaching and the quality and array of programs, especially for youth, as factors in the decision to join a church. Also cited are the following:

• The church’s involvement in social ministries.
• The welcome they receive when they visit.  
• The quality of worship
• The style of music

We strive to do all of this well here at Calvary.  However, the number one reason a person visits a church is that someone invites them!    

I am asking you to pray for all of our ministries. But all the more, I ask the Holy Spirit to lead and guide all of us as we watch for opportunities to invite others to our worship.

Be inclined in other words, to tell someone you are a believer, and that you are someone who is gladly in the habit of meeting with other Christians, as Scripture encourages us to do.

Thank you. I wish you a very pleasant summer day.  The Lord watch over,

Pastor Ken