Why are people not coming to church?
A Review of Church Leaving and Aversion (June 1, 2023)
If church attendance is declining, and it surely is, there are only two factors involved. People once went but have since stopped (leaving), and people have never started to attend (aversion). So, why do each of these happen?
Let’s start with leaving. There are several justifiable reasons for someone leaving their current church. These include relocating geographically, seeking a church with better age-related services (e.g., children’s programs), safety considerations, and seeking a church with better disability-related access. Also consider people who have lost their mobility due to infirmity or who have died.
However, statistics reveal that the phenomenon of leaving a church for other reasons is much more prevalent. There is data on why people leave a church, but the survey I reviewed did not address whether these folk went to another church or dropped out entirely. The study I refer to was conducted by the Francis A. Schaeffer Institute of Church Leadership Development between 1992 and 2007. It involved 1,103 churches representing 23 denominations.
The primary figures of note from this study address why people left their church. The study communicated with 3,803 people who left, and found that 88% said they were forced to leave. However, that included relocation and other noncritical reasons. The more troublesome figure is the 61% of these people who said they “left their last church because of a conflict with another member resulting from gossip or strife that would not stop, was not true, or was not properly dealt with. They also marked a lack of hospitality and a lack of Bible teaching second or third.” Another 19% reported feeling not connected, with a lack of hospitality being the main reason. 18% said it was due to a lack of solid Bible teaching, but “they also marked gossip and strife and lack of hospitality as second or third.”
Interestingly, this section of the study concludes:
“Four point five percent (4.5 %) or 140 people left for reasons of inconvenience; the church was too far, parking too difficult, services too long, preaching was boring, or some minor theological disagreement. It is interesting to note that this is the least of the categories for why people leave, but are what most people in church leadership and consulting spend their time and energies trying to connect with!”
Member conflict, harassment, lack of Bible teaching, gossip, unfriendliness; these are all antithetical to what the Church is supposed to be. We all see instances of this in church from time to time, but perhaps we do not understand how detrimental they are. Social interaction and communication is easier and quicker than it has ever been. Regardless of how frequent such occurrences are, these stories get out. They could easily dissuade others from checking out church or provide fuel for those contemplating leaving.
Now let’s turn to aversion. In this case, I mean people who have never tried out church. A 2017 U.S. Gallup poll4 addressed, in part, why people never (or seldom) attend a place of worship. The top five responses were: prefer to worship on your own (44%), don’t like organized religion (36%), aren’t very religious (23%), haven’t found a church or other place of worship that you like (19%) and don’t have the time (17%).
I find the last figure (lack of time) illuminating because it is the reason many would assume is a major reason for not attending. Also note that three of the above (1, 2 and 4) imply it’s the behaviour of the church that is at issue, rightly or wrongly. Consider that some of this may be due to the bad behaviour noted above getting more widely communicated by the people who do go or once went to church.
Finally, to quell any notion that non-belief is the main culprit in not going to church, consider that 80% of survey respondents said they either were convinced that God exists (64%) or that God probably exists (16%).
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1. Bibby, Reginald W, Resilient Gods: being pro-religious, low religious or no religious in Canada,
UBC Press, 2017, page 66
2. Wikipedia, Religion in Canada, drawn from Statistics Canada, Canada 2011 National Household Survey,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Canada
3. Bibby, page 41
4. Gallop https://news.gallup.com/poll/1690/Religion.aspx