There is a church growth gap in America. Big churches keep getting bigger while small churches are getting smaller.
In many congregations new faces in the pews have become rare.
A new study from Exponential by LifeWay Research found 6 in 10 Protestant churches are plateaued or declining in attendance and more than half saw fewer than 10 people become new Christians in the past 12 months.
Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research said, “Growth is not absent from American churches. But rapid growth through conversions is uncommon.”
The lack of growth in worship attendance in most churches is matched by a lack of new commitments to Christ last year.
44% of pastors say fewer than 10 people indicated a new commitment to Jesus Christ as Savior in 2018, including 8% who had none.
The research gives a clear picture of the state of Protestant churches in America. Most have fewer than 100 people attending services each Sunday at 57%, including 21% who average fewer than 50. Around 1 in 10 churches average 250 or more for their worship services.
Three in five pastors say their churches faced a decline in worship attendance or growth of 5% or less in the last three years.
Meanwhile, 39% of churches said they enjoyed growth of 6% or more.