By Thom S. Rainer
A frequent comment I get from pastors and other church leaders often goes like this statement: “If all our members who attend regularly or sporadically showed up at the same time, our worship center would be packed.”
I get it. One of the more frustrating aspects of a pastor’s ministry is dealing with nominally committed church members. As we wait to return to our in-person worship services, let’s start addressing this issue before the stay-at-home recommendations lift. Here are five thoughts:
- We must address the reality of the 64% factor. Though our social media poll was not scientific, the large number of responses we received was indicative of the interest in the topic. We asked church leaders to provide us two numbers. The first was average weekly worship attendance before the pandemic. The second was the estimated attendance if everyone showed up at the same time. The results were astounding. The median increase in worship attendance would be 64% if everyone showed up at the same time. So, a 100-attendance church would have 164 present. A 500-attendance church would have 820 in attendance.
- We must ask the question, “Where have all the church members gone?” In many of your churches, you can do this exercise by each family. In larger churches, you can do a representative sampling. Look at the families and individuals who attend with a frequency of twice a month or less. Assign a reason for their lack of commitment. Is it sports’ leagues? Is it travel? Is…
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