Beyond the Ordinary

Are fewer worshipers attending weekly? New evidence

By Deborah Bruce

The percentage of worshipers who attend services on a weekly basis is declining. Comparing the U.S. Congregational Life Survey results from wave 1 ( in 2001) to those from wave 2 (in 2008 and 2009) shows consistent declines. Today, about eight in ten worshipers report coming to worship on a weekly basis.*

Fewer weekly worshipers regardless of faith group.  The decline in weekly worshipers is a bit larger in conservative Protestant churches, though they have the highest rate of worshipers attending every week. On the other hand, the decline is the smallest among mainline Protestant churches, which also have the lowest percentage of worshipers attending on a weekly basis.

Fewer weekly worshipers regardless of church size.  The percentage of worshipers who attend weekly dropped in small, mid-size, and large congregations, with only small differences by congregational size.

Why is the trend of declining weekly attendance important?  Weekly worshipers are more involved in their congregations. As fewer attend worship on a weekly basis, there might also be fewer participating regularly in activities such as church school, Bible study, or other ministries. Further, weekly worshipers provide more positive feedback about church life. This is a "chicken-or-the-egg" issue, though. Do worshipers attend on a weekly basis because their experiences in church are meaningful and help them grow spiritually? Or do worshipers find services of the congregations to be helpful because they attend on a regular basis? Either way, this trend warrants our attention.

What is your church doing to ensure worshipers attend on a weekly basis?

Learn more about weekly worshipers—part 1, part 2, and in chapter 7

Presentation to Religious Research Association:  Declining Worship Attendance

A look at "No Shows"

Tips on increasing worship attendance

*Keep in mind that the survey was given in worship. Thus, any worshiper who attends on a weekly basis was sure to be there to complete a survey. But worshipers who attend only one week in four, for example, had a 25% chance of being there on the day the survey was given. This makes the overall worship attendance rates higher than if every worshiper had completed a survey. But the impact of that bias is the same in wave 1 and wave 2, so the comparisons shown here are valid.

Does your congregation operate on misconceptions?

By Deborah Bruce

In the latest edition of Leading Ideas, the newsletter of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership, Eugene Blair (district superintendent in the United Methodist Church) presents Ten Misconceptions about Church Vitality and Growth.  Findings from the U.S. Congregational Life Survey support many of the truths Blair offers to counter these misconceptions. Let's look at a couple:

Importance of follow-up with visitors.  Blair notes that "the number of different methods used to connect with visitors and newcomers is associated with attendance growth." Our survey of fast-growing congregations, shows that, compared to other congregations, they use more ways to attract visitors, more ways to follow-up with visitors, and more ways to integrate new worshipers. In short, they take advantage of every opportunity to connect with new people.

Importance of lay people.  Blair tells us that having "the ideal pastor" is not the key to vitality or growth. Rather committed lay people are essential. Our research supports this. For example, when we asked people new to their congregation in the past five years what made them want to return after the first visit, three reasons stood out: the quality of the sermon, the friendliness of the people, and the overall worship experience. Members and pastors together ensure first-time visitors return a second time.

Is your congregation operating based on misconceptions? Let these truths set you on the right path.

Subscribe to Leading Ideas.

The Internet: Clergy friend or foe?

By Ida Smith-Williams

At the recent Religious Research Association meeting running over Halloween weekend in Baltimore, I presented a paper using 2008 U.S. Congregational Life Survey findings. It was titled: "Deliver Me from Email:  How Pastors Use Electronic Technology."

I showed how use of the Internet and email by clergy has kept pace with use in the general population. A large majority of clergy (95%) use the Internet daily. I also looked at a variety of online activities that clergy pursue. Finally I looked at the amount of time clergy spent on other activities—such as family life, reading, prayer, exercise, recreation, watching television, socializing with friends, and email and text messaging—and compared this to the time they spent online.

David Briggs, a religion news writer for the Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA), picked up on the presentation in a recent post on his Ahead of the Trend column. In "Younger Clergy Lead Online Growth" he noted that other activities, such as prayer, may be suffering since clergy are spending more time on the Internet.

Carol Howard Merritt, pastor at Western Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., makes a similar comment in her post on Alban's "Virtual Community". Merritt concludes, though, that the "benefits far outweigh the risks" when it comes to the Internet. She suggests that the Internet, text-messaging, social networks, and the like should not "replace" but instead "enhance our face to face community."

The Internet can be one's friend or foe, depending on how you look at it. The balance between the two has to be set personally by each individual. New technology can greatly enhance your work and save you time (for example, surfing for sermon ideas, finding facts and relevant information for a sermon, communicating quickly with large numbers of people, etc.). But like everything else, these tools need to be used in moderation.

Read more:

Pastors' Internet Use

Congregations' Use of Email

Other ways worshipers and congregations are changing

Weighing in on clergy health

By Cynthia Woolever

Among a dozen or more signs of general physical health, the Body Mass Index (BMI) is one of the easiest to capture.  Healthy people typically maintain a body weight that is appropriate for their height.  How do pastors weigh in on this widely accepted measure of health?

A BMI score of 25 or higher suggests that an individual is overweight for their height.  About 72% of American males exceed a BMI score of 25.  Similar numbers of male senior or solo pastors (76%) have BMI scores of 25 or more.  In other words, only 24% of male pastors are normal weight.

The average male pastor weighs 200 pounds, and is 5'10" tall on average (both numbers are medians).

What about female pastors?  First, only 18% of all senior/solo pastors serving in local congregations are women.  Female pastors weigh an average (median) of 168 pounds, and are 5'6" tall on average.  about 37% of the American female population maintains a normal body weight compared with 24% of female pastors.  Unfortunately, 41% of female pastors' BMI score exceeds 30—an indicator of obesity.

Are individuals who struggle to maintain a healthy body weight more likely to enter ministry?  Probably not.  A more likely possibility is that the stress and lifestyle associated with serving in ministry make it difficult to find time for exercise or healthy meal preparation.  In fact, pastors say they spend 50 hours per week (median) in their work related to their congregation.  They also report spending only 2 hours per week, on average, exercising.  One in five reveal that they do not regularly take a day off each week.

As the table below shows, the BMI of pastors serving in local congregations has not changed much in the past eight years.  However, it is alarming that one in three pastors is obese (those with BMI scores 30 or more).  National estimates of obesity rates in the U.S. adult population also fall in a similar range—from 27% to 34%.  The incidence of obesity increases as physical activity decreases, and as sugary, fatty, salty, processed food consumption increases.  Obesity is associated with other health risk factors such as hypertension (high blood pressure) and elevated levels of total cholesterol.  And both of these are linked to an increased risk for heart disease.

 
Note: Key leaders who participated in the U.S. Congregational Life Survey self-reported their height and weight.  Previous national studies where participants self-report show that males tend to overestimate their height, while females tend to underestimate their weight.  Another study involving subjects who self-reported their height and weight found that 26.7% of the adult population is obese.  In contrast, in a study where research staff measured and weighed subjects, 33.9% of the adult population fit the obese category.

Interested in gauging your own fitness using the BMI?  Go to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, National Institutes of Health website, to use their easy BMI calculator.