“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?

I previously wrote a post on the insane amounts of money churches are spending on building projects, particularly First Baptist Dallas.  A buddy recently forwarded this article to me. Here is the most telling quote:

“Attractive buildings, entertaining preachers, and concert-like music have become staples in churches around the country in their effort to reach out to the lost,” says Eastburn, “The problem is that these churches are reinforcing the very things that are entrapping people and keeping them from a transforming relationship with Christ. The church cannot curb consumerism by leveraging consumerism.”

Ouch.

Thoughts?

Gateway Church and Watermark Community Church also have new building projects though not as large as First Dallas. I’m not so troubled by those as I am First because I know a little more about the culture around there.

The following quote by Marva Dawn is telling:

We ignore the real situation in the world. While one small part of the world eases its pain by producing more and consuming more non-edible commodities, the rest of the world suffers an opposite kind of hopelessness-when persons are not able to secure the nourishment necessary to live.

Is the answer always more? Is the answer to a growing church always build a bigger building, consuming more energy, more land, more resources, and more money when there are people just down the street who do not know where their next meal is coming from?

There is so much more that we can do besides sinking enormous amounts of money into building projects and “cool” technology. I don’t have a problem with churches needing to expand as it is necessary at times. But it seems to me that there is a point at which it becomes too much and in these times we live in I think there are better ways such as splitting off the church into smaller gatherings so that the church’s facility budget does not exceed their missions budget.