Is christian church membership dropping?

Question

As I drive around my town and on the back roads on my way to work I pass by a fair number of churches. Lately I have seen a lot of billboards trying to either entice people to come or just plain saying 'come and join us'. Even as little as a few years back you never saw this at all. Is membership dropping so much that churches now have to result to advertising to get people through the doors?

kujigafy: I live in New England.. some of these churches have been around a hundred years or more not all are Congregationalist.

Answer 1

Protestant Churches in New England are really struggling. The new fancy seeker sensitive mega church (post modern) style does not go over very well. At the same time most congregations are graying and losing members. Most of the people attending post modern style church in New England are not natives but rather are transplants. So they’re not dead yet.

The Catholic churches are remaining fairly strong.

Answer 2

these are generally new-aged, congregational, feel-good, superficial, watered-down yadayadayada churches. christianity remains the most popular faith on earth (1.8 billion - 1.1 billion of which are roman catholic - catholicism is expanding in Africa more than anywhere else)

the ones you're seeing have always been around in america. they dont last very long because they dont offer very much.

edit- your question brought to mind a lot of billboards ive seen here in CA. you're probably right that they arent congregationalist; but new england is where the congregationalist movement started in the first place.

my point is this: traditional christian sects dont engage in ad campaigns: eastern orthodox and roman catholic. mormons get on bikes and sell christ door to door while evangelicals and born agains throw up billboards as if god were toothpaste. as a catholic im amazed the superficiality of many of these sects. Catholicism grows in Africa through good works and humanitraian examples of missionaries, who bring aid to people in the hopes that those people will accept Christ too.

anyway, thats just my opinion.

Answer 3

I couldn't comment on New England, but over here in old England the churches are literally haemorrhaging followers.

I always have the impression that christianity is growing in the US, but that's really a generalisation - the demographics of New England are indubitably very different from the Bible Belt, and I suspect much people are much closer in general outlook to the UK.

Answer 4

Yes, contemporary American society is resisting the need for an organization to intervine with God on their behalf.

"In Boston, for instance, the Roman Catholic Church will be shutting down 60 churches in the next several years for lack of money -- and parishioners."

"In questions about church attendance, though, one item has bothered sociologists for decades; the percentage of Americans claiming that they attended religious services at least once a week has not changed in the past thirty years, hovering near 40% of respondents. That figure may well be inflated, though, suggests new research, including a study reported recently in the Washington Post. Conducted by sociologist Stanley Presser of the University of Maryland and research assistant Linda Stinson of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, it indicates that a more accurate assessment of church attendance data shows only 26% of Americans regularly attending church -- a drop from the 42% reported in 1965."

Answer 5

It seems so in the UK. Most of the churches ive seen are empty,apart from being used for weddings,funerals and christenings. However i think there's pockets of the country where more people attend. It seems to be very low key over here though.

A church in Derby has been converted into a night club, and there's one in Leicester that's been converted into apartments. I'm sure there's similar conversions of dis used churches in other parts of our country as well.

Answer 6

The truth is that the apostate churches are filling up while the true Christian churches are emptying out. Christians want to hear the new health-wealth doctrine, they don't want to hear that they have sins in their lives, they don't want to know that they have to repent and work at their salvation. They want God in a lunch box. They don't want to read the bible they want cliff-note Christianity, the abridged version of the bible, they want the generic all encompassing prayer that will make them millionaires and have great healthy bodies. They want to see an infomercial on how God is going to give them everything and that they don't have to do anything except give tons of money to the fool at the pulpit.

Answer 7

The Catholic Church has progressively bigger by way of the years and at the instant numbers approximately a million.a million Billion individuals international. The blended Protestant denominations quantity very almost a similar. There seems to be a variety in Europe of reducing Christianity yet someplace else interior the worldwide, quite 0.33 worldwide countries, there is an boost. it style of feels there is an boost in Muslim inhabitants in Europe. Islam might win out interior the Crusades in spite of everything. a great component of their objective grew to become into to take Europe. Brazil is at the instant the main important, inhabitants clever, Catholic united states interior the worldwide. many times conversing, Christianity has progressively grown by way of the years and keeps to accomplish that. it extremely is no longer getting smaller, conversing on the worldwide international point.

Answer 8

I don't know as my Church seems to be full to bursting. We even offer different Masses at different times on Sunday and there is usually a full house. We don't have the signs mentioned but I have seen them at other churches. I just presumed that they were attempting to encourage people to attend due to a love of God and desire for all to know Him.

Answer 9

Catholic Church membership is increasing while the priesthood numbers decrease.

Answer 10

I don't know what the trend is. I guess it would depend on where you live. Where I live church attendance is high.

I know people who say they are religious but don't attend a church for various reasons.