The Numbers Are Staggering…
When discussing church planting with people, both Christian and non-Christian, there is a common thought, “Don’t we have enough churches?” The simple answer from most people is, “Yes,” but the answer isn’t that simple. This is a tough issue that requires us to think outside of how we usually tackle the topic of church. First, let’s cover this from a general view of church effectiveness.
Win Arn, who is an expert on church growth, gives us these staggering numbers: “Today, of the approximately 350,000 churches in America, four out of five are either plateaued or declining… Many churches begin a plateau or slow decline about their fifteenth to eighteenth year. 80-85% of the churches in America are on the downside of this cycle. Of the 15 percent that are growing, 14 percent are growing from transfer, rather than conversion growth.” This leads us to the understanding that only 1 percent of the churches in the United States that are actually growing (remember that only 15 percent of churches are even growing) are seeing any growth from new conversions. The other minority of churches that are growing are growing by people that are, for one reason or another, leaving another church to go to a new one.
There is a problem in the mission of the church in the United States. The number of people who simply attend church is dropping yearly, along with the number of converts and baptisms. The church in the United States is quickly becoming completely irrelevant in modern culture. Research shows that there are 195 million unchurched people in America, making America the third largest unchurched nation in the world. The term “unchurched” simply means that a person is completely unconnected to any church. In 1988, 44 percent of Americans were unchurched. Currently it is closer to 65 percent. During the last ten years combined membership of all Protestant denominations declined by 9.5 percent (4,498,242), while the national population increased by 11.4 percent (24,153,000). The reason this combination is so staggering is that the current population boom has not affected the growth of the church. In other words, if the mission of Jesus was having the impact on culture that it should, then churches should be growing along with the population. But in stark contrast, the church in America is decreasing in number as the population is increasing in number. The numbers indicate that there is a problem in the church and people are simply giving up on it or never even giving it a chance.
It is obvious that the churches that currently exist in America are having a few problems, which would lead us to believe that the solution should be to go into them and fix them. This IS the solution, but the method of bringing that about is where contention will arise. Consider this: data collected by researchers Thomas Clegg and Warren Bird show that in 1820 there was 1 church for every 875 Americans, whereas in 1996 there were 11 churches for every 10,000 Americans. Considering that the average size of a church in America’s largest denomination is 80, even if all Americans decided to go to church next Sunday there wouldn’t be room for them all.
The way in which to attempt to solve our issues is to focus on multiplication. If the DNA of a human being ceases to multiply itself, then that person quickly begins to die. The same understanding needs to be had among the church of Jesus. In His mission, He commanded His followers to “Go, make disciples…” He was literally telling them to go and multiply. For the church to survive its current decline, then the answer is multiplication on a level that is far above individuals. Rather, the answer is in multiplying the number of churches that currently exist. For the members of churches to catch a vision of personal multiplication, then the church itself must first be willing to multiply into new churches. This will maximize the impact and bring about the growth that is desired. This is clearly seen in that churches under three years of age see an average of 10 people coming to faith in Jesus per year versus churches over fifteen years of age only seeing three people coming to Christ. Multiplication breeds multiplication. The numbers do not lie.
Let’s think local for just one moment though. Village Church at Midlothian is starting in Midlothian, VA. The census bureau estimates that by 2011 the population of this Richmond suburb will near 100,000 people. Research also indicates that in this area over 80 percent of the people fit the definition of unchurched. That shows that on any given Sunday less than 20,000 of the people in Midlothian are involved in any church, even in an area that many consider to be part of the “Bible Belt.” As the numbers in population grow, so will the number of unchurched people as already indicated. Part of the solution is new churches focused on living the mission of Jesus.
More on that later…
