The sobering prediction comes from the Barna group.
In an interview with NPR regarding the status of American churches after months of shutdowns, David Kinnaman of Barna said although churches were handling things “pretty swimmingly” at first, circumstances have changed for some.
He noted that although many churches have opened as states’ shutdown orders are loosened, their services have had “a lot less people coming.”
The prediction comes from a survey of churches.
Over the course of the pandemic, there has been a drop in belief among pastors that their churches will survive the quarantine, going from 70% responding that they were “very confident” early on to 58% responding the same more recently.
Kinnaman said that as time passes, “we’ll look back at this pandemic as a fundamental change to the way Americans” handled church attendance and church donations.
He also predicts that there will be a lot more online attendance than ever before, even after all churches reopen. He believes digital church is here to stay.
Meanwhile, research from the National Association of Evangelicals found that nearly two-thirds of churches have seen a drop in giving since mid-March.
The survey found that 34% of churches reported a decline in giving by 10-20% or more; and 9% reported a drop of 75% or more.