Beyond the Ordinary

Worshiper vs. member: Is there a difference?

By Deborah Bruce

In recent years, I've heard from many pastors who say that they're seeing an increase in the numbers of worshipers who attend their congregation regularly, but aren't members. Do the data support this perception?

In 2001, three-quarters of worshipers (77%) said they're members of their congregation. Another 2% were in the process of joining. That leaves two in ten who were not members of the congregation.

Those numbers had not changed in the most recent survey (fall of 2008 and spring of 2009).

Are you a member of this congregation?	2001	2008/ 2009
Yes	77%	77%
No, but I’m in the process of joining	2%	2%
No, but I regularly participate here	11%	12%
No	9%	9%

The percentage of worshipers who are members of their congregation varies in some important ways (2008/2009 figures):

1. Membership rates are highest in mainline Protestant congregations (83% of worshipers are members) and lower in Catholic parishes (75%) and conservative Protestant churches (70%).
2. Membership rates are higher in small and mid-size congregations—84% of worshipers are members in small (with fewer than 100 in worship) and mid-size congregations (with 100-350 in worship). In large churches with over 350 in worship, only 74% are members.
3. Worshipers who are new to their congregation—attending for two years or less—are much less likely to be members (45% are). Nine in ten of those attending for three years or more (88%) are members.
4. Younger worshipers are less likely to be members—only two-thirds of those under the age of 45 (68%), but eight in ten older worshipers (81%) are members.

So, what might be happening that would lead pastors to see a change?

In three areas, there has been a remarkable decline since 2001 in percent of worshipers who are members:

• Those attending conservative Protestant churches.
• Those attending their congregation for two years or less.
• Those under age 45.

Percent who are members	2001	2008/ 2009
Worshipers in conservative        Protestant churches	77%	70%
Worshipers attending 2 years or less	53%	45%
Worshipers under age 45	72%	68%

Thus if a pastor serves a conservative Protestant church, has many worshipers who began attending recently, or has significant numbers of worshipers who are under age 45, it's likely that the congregation has seen an increase in participating non-members.

Other research shows that non-members are less involved in their congregations outside of worship, attend less often, and make smaller financial contributions to their church. All of these factors impact congregational life.

Are there many non-members in your congregation? Have you asked them to join?

On a hunt

By Ida Smith-Williams

Planning a spring break vacation with the kids to the beach was somewhat more challenging when it became a mission to attend church on Easter Sunday morning. We were planning a fourteen hour drive from Louisville to Myrtle Beach, SC with the intent of finding a Christian non-denominational church along the way. Googling, I found three very interesting churches fitting our criteria: a church similar to the one we belong to and located about half-way, which would put us near Asheville, NC, by our calculations.

The next step was to check out the web sites of three churches of interest. The first church boasted of being a new church with about 40 members. The web site of a second church highlighted that it was a simple church and provided information on where to park, what to wear, and how long the service might last. It included pictures of staff including a person of color, which told me we would not be the only people of color if we showed up here. The web site stressed that what we wore did not matter, which was important to us since we would be coming in our traveling clothes. It let us know that all were welcome in the worship service including children over age five, with younger children cared for in the nursery. Our youngest is four, and while we would prefer a worship experience for her with kids her own age, we did not rule out this church. However, the physical address of the church proved difficult to find. There were references to the church being located in the "Orange Peel." As someone unfamiliar with the area, this didn't help me at all. I finally found the mailing address of the church, which I located on MapQuest. However, my frustration with trying to find the church's location decreased my interest in this church.

The last church we considered was a church with about 900 members. Their web site included a video showing a typical worship service. This was helpful to see how people dressed and the style of worship. The church seemed similar to our own church and offered separate services for children. The web site gave simple directions to find the church and even included a link to map the church from our house. The hunt was a successful one as we pulled into the parking lot of this third church 15 minutes prior to the worship service. We found the church very inviting and welcoming. Someone greeted us the minute we walked in and, as one person led my husband and teen boys to the sanctuary, another woman led me downstairs to the children's services. She stood with me, politely chatting, as we waited to go through the check-in station where I was given an identification number that would come across the screen in worship if they needed to reach me. She then took us to the classroom. My child was a little anxious about going off with strangers, but that was only momentary—when she was told that they would hunt for eggs, color, and play outside, off she went! I was then led upstairs to the sanctuary. We met and conversed with the pastor afterwards. We enjoyed our Easter Sunday worship experience, thanks to this church's web site and hospitality, and continued on our way.

Web sites are an important first step for many people. Try to imagine how a visitor might view your site.

New web resource

By Deborah Bruce

The Insights into Religion Web site is now available! The site is a portal—a single source for articles, information, and research on religion from more than 20 organizations supported by the Lilly Endowment's Religion Division. The U.S. Congregational Life Survey is one of the 20 organizations covered by the portal.

The goal of the Insights into Religion portal is to centralize information on religion from a wide range of sites recognized as some of the Web's best sources. Pastors, lay leaders in congregations, and religion journalists and communicators can access the latest religious research, articles, and journals from the affiliate sites in a single search. This reduces the time required to gather the information from a variety of sources. Scott Thumma, Executive Director of the Insights into Religion portal, states, "Once users begin exploring the portal and see how easy it is to find the content they need, they will quickly adopt it as a primary Web resource in their work."

Insights into Religion will help you access informative and timely information on grant opportunities, worship resources, theological education, and more. Take a look: Insights into Religion.

 

Weekly worshipers: Part 2

By Deborah Bruce

In my last post, I described the ways weekly worshipers differ demographically from those who attend more often. Now let's look at other ways these groups differ.

More involved. Not surprisingly, weekly worshipers are more involved in their congregations. Compared to other worshipers, those who attend on a weekly basis are more likely to: be involved in a small group in their congregation (church school, Bible study, men's or women's group), take part in their congregation's evangelism and community service activities, hold a leadership role in the church (e.g., governing board, committee member, choir member, small group leader, or church school teacher), have invited someone to visit their church in the past year, participate in congregational decision making, and give 5% or more of income to the church. And despite these higher rates of involvement, those who attend weekly are also more likely to say their participation is increasing!

	Attend  Weekly	Attend Less Often
Participate in small group	60%	30%
Participate in church’s     evangelism activities	21%	6%
Participate in church’s    community service activities	21%	9%
Hold leadership role	47%	18%
Invited someone	47%	32%
Participate in decision making	33%	15%
Give 5% or more	54%	21%
Report increasing participation	28%	17%

Other civic engagement. Worshipers who attend less often than weekly are involved in their communities at about the same rates as those who attend weekly. Recall that worshipers in general are more engaged in their communities than non-worshipers. It appears that being a worshiper who participates in a community of faith is what is related to participation in these types of activities that help strengthen communities—not frequency of worship attendance.

	Attend  Weekly	Attend Less Often
Participate in community service     work separate from     the congregation	31%	32%
Voted in the last presidential election	83%	79%
Made a charitable donation	74%	70%
Worked on a community problem	21%	20%

Perceptions of their congregation. Frequent attendance is linked to more positive feedback about the congregation. Weekly worshipers are more likely to say that worship services help them with everyday living, that their spiritual needs are being met in the congregation and that they experience a strong and growing sense of belonging to their congregation. Unfortunately we can't determine whether worshipers attend more often because of these positive experiences or if they have positive experiences because of their more frequent attendance.

	Attend  Weekly	Attend Less Often
Worship services help to a     great extent with     daily living	63%	34%
Spiritual needs are being met       in the congregation	88%	70%
Strong, growing sense     of belonging to the     congregation	48%	23%

Keep in mind that the U.S. Congregational Life Survey was conducted in worship. Thus, weekly worshipers were more likely to have participated than those who attend less often. That means that if we had included all worshipers who ever attended a congregation over a year the true proportion who attend weekly is less than the 76% found in our survey. Nonetheless, I'm confident that the pattern of differences shown here would emerge again if all worshipers were surveyed.

In what ways does  your congregation reach out to those who come to worship relatively infrequently? Are there ways to ensure those who attend less than weekly are not at risk of drifting away from the congregation entirely?

Weekly worshipers: Part 1

By Deborah Bruce

Weekly worshipers are surprisingly common in congregations across this country. Three-quarters of worshipers (76%) report attending services every week or more often. How do they compare to worshipers who attend less frequently?

Demographic differences.  Weekly attendees differ from other worshipers on several dimensions. They are older, less likely to be employed, more likely to be retired, and less likely to have children at home. Worshipers with jobs and children at home have many other things competing for their time, and this appears to have an impact on their worship attendance. On the other hand, weekly worshipers are similar to those who attend less often in terms of gender.

Weekly worshipers are also long-term attendees. Half have been attending their congregation for more than 10 years. Long-term commitment to the congregation goes hand in hand with weekly attendance. Looking at those who attend less often, we find that 39% of these worshipers are new people who began attending their congregation in the past five years.

	Attend Weekly	Attend Less Often
45 or older	73%	56%
Female	62%	59%
Employed	56%	66%
Retired	32%	17%
Married	66%	64%
Children living at home	41%	51%
Attending more than 10 years	53%	33%

Are Catholic worshipers more likely than Protestant worshipers to attend weekly?  No. Three-quarters of Catholic worshipers (76%), 73% of mainline Protestants, and 79% of conservative Protestants come to worship on a weekly basis. While the differences are small, the more conservative Protestants attend worship on a weekly basis.

In my next post, I'll focus on other ways weekly worshipers are different from those who attend less frequently.