The ‘Unintended Consequence’ Overtaking the Multisite Church Movement

As the country moves away from cultural church attendance—less than 36 percent went weekly in 2014, down from almost 40 percent in 2007—it leaves behind empty or near-empty buildings, Tomberlin said.

Since Millennials are less likely (28 percent) to attend church weekly than those born before 1945 (51 percent) or Boomers (38 percent), and since mainline Christianity continues to shrink, that trend will likely continue.

However, evangelicalism has remained fairly stable in America. About twice as many evangelicals (58 percent) as mainline Protestants (33 percent) attended church weekly in 2014. And Protestants are launching church plants faster than they’re closing the doors on old buildings, LifeWay Research reported in 2015.

So the transfer of church buildings from declining congregations to new plants seems to make good practical sense.

In practice, though, it’s a lot stickier. Read More