Why Denomination Matters to Church Growth

A recent study suggests orthodoxy doesn't draw church crowds on its own.

Conventional wisdom says that conservative churches grow and liberal churches don’t. But as a recent study from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research found, this isn’t quite accurate. It’s the denomination’s theology that tends to matter, not the congregation’s. Churches in evangelical denominations are more than twice as likely to grow as churches in mainline denominations, but within those denominations theological orientation doesn’t have much effect. In other words, orthodoxy doesn’t draw crowds on its own. Read more

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