Why are 30% of your “active” church members absent on a given Sunday?

By Thom S. Renner

Founder and CEO

Are any of you sufficiently old to recollect the “Excellent Attendance Award”?

For many years I used to be in a church that supplied such recognition. That is fairly an achievement. Which means a church member has appeared for 52 or 53 consecutive Sundays in a calendar or church 12 months.

Sam Renner started writing about frequency of presence 15 years in the past. His analysis has turn out to be a significant component in our understanding of the behavioral patterns of church members. Actually, he has proven on a number of events that declining attendance frequency is normally the primary reason for a church’s total decline.

When “lively” members are no-shows

We additionally famous that in most church buildings, an individual who attends church no less than twice a month is taken into account an lively member. Actually, many leaders of a church will attend solely twice a month. In different phrases, they’re absent half the time, however they nonetheless qualify as leaders.

In a latest dialogue at Church North Central, our 24/7 Church Chief Discussion board, our individuals engaged in a dialog in regards to the “30% Issue.” This can be a quantity that represents the variety of core or lively members who will likely be absent on a given Sunday. It was an attention-grabbing dialogue. I hardly ever see or learn the attendance patterns of a church’s most lively members.

Delving into the 30% issue for “lively” members

Whereas I can not empirically verify the accuracy of the 30% issue, I consider the quantity is shut based mostly on our session and interactions with church leaders. After studying the dialog at Church North Central, I needed to know why this issue is true. Why do our most lively members fail to indicate up on a given Sunday?

Listed here are the 5 most typical causes for the 30% issue. It tries to elucidate why three out of ten lively members of your church will likely be absent on a given Sunday.

1. 1. Low expectations by the church. Most church buildings have a low view of church attendance, no less than implicitly. They fail to speak the biblical and important significance of the congregational church. As an alternative of embracing the excessive precedence of attendance, they relegate it to a different exercise on the week’s calendar. I strongly encourage leaders to incorporate devoted attendance of their church membership lessons. Actually, based mostly on the New Testomony sample of the gathered church, I’m not shy about advocating that members ought to attend. every Sunday except providentially prevented.
   2. Much less precedence to church members. In keeping with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the common absenteeism charge for full-time workers is 0.8%. That’s lower than one %! Staff present up as a result of they need to hold their jobs or advance their careers. Their dedication could also be economically motivated, however it’s a precedence. Lower than one % of workers miss work, however 30 % of “lively” church members miss church. Be aware that I put citation marks round “lively” on this article. I am undecided many of those core members are actually lively members.
   3. Challenges for older church members. The American congregation is getting old sooner than the overall inhabitants. On a selected Sunday, an aged particular person can not depart the home attributable to climate or sickness. These church buildings with older church members can count on that one in ten older members will likely be absent on a given Sunday for a sound motive. This actuality will improve as the common age of church members will increase.
   4. The covid issue. Most church buildings have been closed for a season throughout the pandemic. Some have been closed for a number of months. In the course of the quarantine, church members bought used to staying residence on Sundays. They bought out of the great behavior of church attendance. A few of them argued that presence is just not that essential. Their world didn’t collapse once they have been ordered to not collect for worship. The covid issue has affected even essentially the most dedicated members of our church. That mentality nonetheless exists.
   5. Failure to carry church leaders accountable. I’m satisfied that this issue is extra vital than most church leaders notice. When these in management positions in our church fail to exhibit a really dedicated presence, their instance impacts the remainder of the church. I joke that an individual who attends solely half the time is outlined as an elder or deacon. However I am not likely kidding. It is one factor to disregard the low frequency of church members’ attendance. However we should maintain leaders accountable. They don’t have any enterprise being in church management roles except they present up virtually each Sunday.