The Decline of Religious Services
I am trained from Denver Seminary. I was trained alongside of pastors who run a lot of today’s religious leadership. Pastor’s, from what I remember, are called to a much higher sense of morality and responsibility when it comes to speaking to a congregation about God. Our society is watching a decline of people willing to regularly participate and show up in their preferred religious practices organization. Here are the stats:
“According to Gallup’s data, this decline in church attendance among Christians speaks to a wider pattern across religion in the U.S. generally. Where an average of 42 percent of U.S. adults attended religious services every week or nearly every week 20 years ago, now this figure is just 30 percent.” Source: https://news.gallup.com/poll/642548/church-attendance-declined-religious-groups.aspx#:~:text=A%20table%20showing%20changes%20in,Americans%20have%20shown%20modest%20increases
The question to be asked is WHY? Showing us statistics that this is happening doesn’t help us answer WHY this is happening. Without the why we can’t do anything about it! We can guess but that typically leaves us in more debt than to just know. Religious organizations have a responsibility to the people that they serve. They were the original public servants before government took over. They were called to lead a community closer to God - if they are loosing their members than that is on them to figure out the why! How do you do that? You gain qualitative research. You ask your current members questions like: What do you like about coming to services at this church? How often do you come? What is it you like about the pastor or don’t like? What do you like or dislike about the sermons? What makes you want to come back each week? How can the church engage you in being more community focused? Do you have a talent or gift you enjoy in anyway? What is your biggest concern about being a member? These are some great questions to ask to start getting the data you are looking for! Qualitative research knows the right questions - tailored to your specific needs and target audience - to get the answers you may need to make your church thrive again. Ask the why questions! If you need to outsource this work - give us a call!