{"id":3912,"date":"2016-03-07T23:03:06","date_gmt":"2016-03-08T08:03:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchformen\/?p=3912"},"modified":"2019-08-26T19:32:52","modified_gmt":"2019-08-27T04:32:52","slug":"why-is-church-attendance-declining-even-among-christians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchformen\/2016\/03\/why-is-church-attendance-declining-even-among-christians\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is church attendance declining \u2013 even among committed Christians?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"SoccerFamily\"We\u2019ve all heard how church attendance is declining in America. The religious \u201cnones\u201d are rising in number. Nominal Christians are falling away.<\/p>\n

But even more disturbing: fervent believers are becoming irregular in their church attendance, too. (Ask any pastor if this is happening).<\/p>\n

When my father-in-law was growing up in the Bible belt, you attended church three times a week, 52 weeks a year. You did not miss church unless you had a fever of 102. If you were traveling on Sunday you were expected to visit a local congregation in your denomination. There was no skipping a Sunday \u2013 no sleeping in. Church attendance was the\u00a0barometer of spiritual health.<\/p>\n

My generation relaxed the attendance rules a bit \u2013 especially if we had to travel or work over the weekend. But we still made it to church almost every Sunday.<\/p>\n

Our children have become even more casual about weekly worship attendance. I recently interviewed the leaders of a large church in Arizona. They surveyed their young families and discovered they attended church an average of 1.6 times per month (out of a possible 4.3 weekends\/month). In addition, only 20% of their members attend at least 3 times a month. And just 4 percent are \u201cfull attenders\u201d like my father-in-law \u2013 in the pews at least 48 weeks a year.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not here to argue whether a faithful Christian must go to church every Sunday. But I am curious how churchgoing changed from being foundational to optional in the minds of many Christians. Let me offer ten possible reasons:<\/p>\n

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  1. Social expectation and pressures have lightened.<\/strong> People used to live their lives according to social convention. Those who strayed from accepted norms were ostracized and shamed. Churches used this power to \u201cguilt\u201d people into a variety of behaviors, including weekly church attendance. Obviously this doesn\u2019t work any more.<\/li>\n
  2. Church is no longer the best show in town.<\/strong> For centuries, Sunday morning was an entertainment desert. Shops were closed. Sports commenced at noon. There was no cable TV or video games. Church was literally the only thing happening on Sunday morning \u2013 so people went. Sunday now presents lots of attractive options and everyone \u2013 including Christians \u2013 is\u00a0taking advantage.<\/li>\n
  3. Increased mobility.<\/strong> People travel as never before, so more and more churchgoers find themselves out of town on Sunday. Relatively few see the need to visit a nearby church.<\/li>\n
  4. Weekend work.<\/strong> Blue laws used to keep businesses shuttered on Sunday. Now many people work on the Sabbath, which makes attendance difficult or impossible.<\/li>\n
  5. People need a day of rest.<\/strong> For stressed-out couples Sunday may be the only pajama morning of the week. Can we blame families\u00a0for wanting a little downtime with each other?\u00a0After all, aren\u2019t we supposed to take a sabbath?<\/li>\n
  6. The rise of do-it-yourself\u00a0Christianity.<\/strong> The Internet and various media offerings allow believers to tailor a spiritual life to their own liking. They get Christianity without the challenge of having to interact with other Christians.<\/li>\n
  7. The expectation\u00a0of choice.<\/strong>\u00a0Modern Americans are used to getting exactly what they want. Amazon.com offers more than 200 million items. Petco sells\u00a0more than 100 varieties of dog food. Christians shop for pastors they connect with. Megachurch attenders often have favorite teaching pastors \u2013 and will skip a Sunday if\u00a0\u201cthe other guy\u201d is preaching.<\/li>\n
  8. The most faithful saints are burning out.<\/strong> I know a number of very committed Christians who no longer attend \u2013 or do so sporadically \u2013 because their churches worked them so hard in the past.<\/li>\n
  9. Video streaming.<\/strong> In the past five years many churches have begun live-streaming their weekly worship services. It\u2019s a heck of a lot easer to watch church on your iPad than it is to drag everyone to a building. And here\u2019s the best part: no singing!<\/li>\n
  10. Churches increasingly model individuality in weekly worship and teaching.<\/strong> We\u2019ve trained people to pursue Christ on their own \u2013 so that\u2019s what they\u2019re doing.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Let me spend a little time on that last one. One of the hallmarks of 20th<\/sup> century evangelicalism was the focus on individual\u00a0unction: personal salvation, a personal relationship with Jesus, personal devotions, etc. Pastors taught people to dig into the Bible themselves; to self-feed by reading Christian books and listening to Christian radio; and to share their faith with others \u2013 all without much support from the church.<\/p>\n

    But by placing the individual in charge of his own spiritual life the church unwittingly de-emphasized the importance of community. This produced a generation of spiritual James Bonds \u2013 lone wolf agents who imagine themselves serving God without much help from headquarters.<\/p>\n

    Contemporary worship is feeding the trend. These hip worship services mirror the individualism we see in the wider culture:<\/p>\n