Before You Build That Mega Church, Read This
I spend a lot of time with people in their 20s because that is an age group I feel particularly called to reach out to. Over the past 4 or so years, I have noticed a disturbing trend…Millenials (18-29) are not too interested in prayer, worship or Bible reading. If this research by Lifeway Christian Resources is correct, my hunch may be right.
“If the trends continue, “the Millennial generation will see churches closing as quickly as GM dealerships”
And that there is why we need to think long and hard about building big churches with tons of programming. I’m not saying they are the wrong thing to do, but I am saying that it is possible to be “too big”. At some point it becomes too difficult to maintain and the leadership starts making decisions based on their need to keep the cash coming in instead of on what is right or godly.
But there may be hope! In a separate study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, statistics on Millenials were similar to stats on Gen Xers (that’s me!) and Baby Boomers at the same age. However:
“It’s too soon to tell what Millennials will say when they’re older. However, the study finds that as people age, they are more likely to say religion is very important in their lives, and they pray more frequently.”
I want to know your thoughts on this. Do you think the research by Lifeway will continue to be the case as Millenials get older? Should churches reconsider plans to build bigger buildings? What do you think these stats say about what churches will look like in the future?
You should check out these other posts…
Robert
I love theology and the challenge of making deep teachings non-boring. Let's face it, most of the time we hear theological teaching, it really is boring. Does it really have to be that way? Nope.
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Jonathan
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rojo
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Jonathan
