State of the Church
The Condition of the Church in America
Complied by Andy McAdams
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 2.2% of those are growing by conversion growth.
4. 10,000 churches in America disappeared in a five-year period.
5. Only 45% of the U.S. population, attend church regularly.
6. The number of people in America that Do Not attend church has doubled in the past 15 years.
7. 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%.
8. Though the Bible Belt still boasts the highest percentage of church attendees, yet many of those churches are filled with legalism or extreme liberalism.
9. The vast majority of churches have an attendance of less then 75.
10. In 70 % of the churches in America, the pastor is the only full-time staff person
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. Only 1/5 of the adult population attends Sunday school or some sort of Christian training.
14. 23% of church attendees say they attend a small group for growth and accountability.
15. Only 65% of Americans donate to a place of worship. Evangelicals however 85% donate to their church yet only 9% tithe.
16. 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.
17. Only 60% of Christians say they are deeply committed to their faith, yet 85% of evangelicals make this claim.
18. Among the 71% of those who have heard of spiritual gifts, 31% can name a spiritual gift they believe they possess.
19. One in four have a place in the church where they serve.
20. Less then 50% say that the Bible is totally accurate, yet 60% of those that clam to be born-again.
21. Just 1/3 of church attendees believes that they have a personal responsibility to share their faith with others.
22. 56% of the population believe that salvation can be earned and shockingly, 26% are among evangelical churches.
23. Giving to charities increased in the past decade yet giving to local churches is declining.
24. Out of 100,000 churches in America less then 2% are considered mega-churches, (1,000 or more).
25. In his book, "Who Shall Lead Them", Larry Withham said,
"20% Of US Churches Have No Future"
26. 1 out of 4 church attendees are considered church hoppers.
27. On average, just 7% of new church attendees are formally unchurched.
FOR DISCUSSION: What do you think? What stood out to you?
Andy McAdams is the director of Pastor to Pastors Ministry, a division of Church Dynamics International. www.churchdynamics.org
Labels: State of the church
posted by Matt Friedeman @ 4:44 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
Point 22 stands out to me - is this because there are so few churches that preach the Gospel? Or is it because people just don't comprehend what they're listening to when they come?
After reading this, I feel even more blessed than I did before.
I belong to a church that had the same pastor for 25 years (until he died) and has had the same pastor since for the past 7 years and I feel sure he has no intentions of leaving and we have no intentions of asking him to.
We are growing - we've seen hundreds of souls saved this year.
We have services three times a week - and roughly 1/3 of our members attend all three services, out of about 400 members.
We have five wonderful pastors on staff.
We are a very giving church. It's not unusual to take up a love offering for a visiting missionary, or for a family that is in financial trouble, etc. and get a few thousand dollars collected.
We've had numerous classes and taken tests on spiritual gifts, and most of us know at least one of our gifts and are using it in an area of service within the church.
We are a KJV, Bible believing group. We have a Bible College, we run busses and pick up hundreds of kids each week who would otherwise not be in church, we have multiple soul-winning ministries, and we frequently chip in as members and do odd-jobs and work that needs to be done around the church.
I am so blessed. Thank you Lord, for my church family and my awesome pastor.
Thanks for this article. I needed to be reminded of my many blessings.
#3 is very sad to me...I've heard that, but seeing the numbers is still rather startling.
I tried using the e-mail link but as I am on Tom's computer from work it keeps trying to automatically tie into his school network so won't work. Anyway, wanted to personally write and tell you we've had a big weekend in our house (check out www.jenny-jenjo.blogpot.com) and say thanks to God for you (and Mary)on our every remembrance of your influence in our life and parenting!
As a pastor myself, the stat that jumps out is the very first one... Ministry is a difficult profession and that fact is not grasped (for the most part) by churches. Supporting your pastor is one of the best ways to ensure a healthy church...
Thanks for compiling the stats... good post.
Depressing!!!!!!!!!!!! I think I will resign tomorrow. If all this negativity is what is promoted, then what chance do we have? Would it be better if we all left the the ministry and joined the Matt Friedeman cult?
I'm pleased to see that this fine blog has picked up something that took me years to put together.
The reason for this information is to help wake up the church and focus on a healthy church and to make disciples.
After 30 years of ministry I left my church and now dedicate my ministry to helping churches to become healthy and fulfill the Great Commission.
I praise God for churches that are doing a wonderful job and pray for those that need to make the needed changes in order be more affective.
By the way...I will be updating these stats and things are changing all the time.
In His Service,
Pastor Andy McAdams
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