Amidst the endless stream of research studies, news stories, and anecdotes that rightly report on religious decline across denominations and congregations, where are the signs of congregational life and vitality, and what can we learn from such settings? These are anchoring questions for our Canadian-based research team at the Flourishing Congregations Institute at Ambrose University.…
A recent article in The Atlantic proclaimed ”an epidemic of empty churches.” And the very same week the Washington Post asked, ”Does a religious community need its own building to flourish?” Both authors pointed to the reality that buildings are often a problem, and finding the right solution will require congregations and their leaders to…
Question: What do we know about congregational size? In the United States, most congregations are smaller than 100 people, but most people attend congregations that are large. This points to the fact that many people attend “megachurches,” or churches larger than 2,000 people (see the earlier post on why someone would attend a megachurch by Gerardo…
In the book A Particular Place: Urban Restructuring and Religious Ecology in a Southern Exurb, Dr. Nancy Eiesland outlines how two particular congregations grew in an area outside Atlanta. Notice how she describes the changes in the local ecology of the community that led to the rise of the congregation: “Founded in 1942, Hebron Baptist…
Question: What do we know about congregational size? In the United States, most congregations are smaller than 100 people, but most people attend congregations that are large. This points to the fact that many people attend “megachurches,” or churches larger than 2,000 people (see the earlier post on why someone would attend a megachurch by Gerardo…