Churches Are Dying, Will Yours Survive?

One sad reality of COVID19 is that churches are dying. The question for you is, will yours survive?

Before COVID19 we were already seeing thousands of churches every year close their doors. Estimates range from 6,000 to 10,000 yearly. Even those that question that number will admit to probably around 5,000 a year ceasing to exist. The question no one knows, yet, is will COVID19 accelerate the rate of decline and death. New studies seem to be pointing out that danger ahead for churches.

Consider these recent Barna research findings,

• 48% of churchgoers say they have not watched any church online in the last 4 weeks.
• Only 40% watched their regular home church online.
• 23% said they streamed a different church.

All of us are longing for the day when things will return back to normal and we can once again open up fully. Yet consider what another study done by Gloo discovered,

• 25% either aren’t sure or aren’t coming back for a long time.
• 30% of respondents said they’d rather worship at home and only return when they can be mask-free at church.

Add to this that when churches have started back with on-campus worship attendance is typically running around 30% of Pre-COVID19 numbers. Then the ultimate question is when will “normal” return? Will “normal” ever fully return? Already multiple churches have simply decided to cancel any on-campus worship for the rest of 2020.

How will this impact giving? A lot! While early reports are showing that giving has stabilized, our data is revealing that this is driven by top end donors, the majority of whom are Baby Boomers. How long can they dig deeper to keep their church stable?

All of the above begs the question, how many churches will die as a result of COVID19? The real question for you is what about your church? Can you survive many more weeks and months of this? I believe the answer is yes but it depends upon whether or not you take action and do so quickly.

I believe there is a path to financial security. My team and I are on that path. Come join us! https://acts17generosity.com/memberships/

Mark Brooks – The Stewardship Coach

@stewardshipman