A Canadian study of Mainline Protestant churches has found ministries that promote conservative teachings and a literal interpretation of the Bible are more successful in growing their membership than liberal churches.
David Haskell, the lead researcher of the study said they found growing churches “Held more firmly to the traditional beliefs of Christianity and were more diligent in things like prayer and Bible reading.”
The paper offered several statistics, and showed that only half of clergy from declining churches agreed it was “very important to encourage non-Christians to become Christians,” compared to 100 percent of clergy from growing churches.
What is more, 71 percent of clergy from growing churches read the Bible daily, compared to 19 percent from declining churches; while 100 percent of clergy from growing churches agreed that “God performs miracles in answer to prayers,” though only 44 percent of declining-churches clergy said the same.
Various studies have been conducted on the subject of church growth, and there have been previous ones, such as the 2014 General Society Survey, which also suggested that more American churchgoers identify as conservative rather than liberal when it comes to theology.
Social scientists have observed for some time now that organizations that require more of their members tend to grow and do better than those organizations that ask little from their members.”