Since 2000, one of the most reliable sources of data on congregations in America has been the Faith Communities Today study, often referred to as FACT. It’s been conducted every five years, with the most recent survey in 2023 representing tens of thousands of congregations across every major faith tradition.
The FACT research gives us a clear picture of what the ‘typical’ church looks like over time. And here’s one of the most striking trends: in 2000, the median church in America had 137 people in attendance at weekly worship services. By 2023, that number had dropped to just 60. Today, Sam and Thom will talk about what that shift means for pastors, leaders, and the future of congregations.
The Attractional Church Model is Failing
In this video, I’ll show you why the attractional church model worked well for a season, but is now mostly outdated and failing. Best yet, I’ll share what you should be doing instead to see your church grow.
Study reveals hopes for the future but reservations about Church’s readiness for a changing world
The Lausanne Movement has released its Global Voices Report, a wide-ranging snapshot of how Christian leaders see the state of the Church and the future of mission.
Congo Staying in the Communion
Archbishop Georges Titre Ande, primate of the Anglican Church of Congo, has become the first member of the GAFCON Primates’ Council to affirm his church’s intention to remain part of the Anglican Communion.
Online Worship Attendance Shows Promise
On any given Sunday across the Episcopal Church in 2024, more than 120,000 individuals accessed a service through livestream. The statistic is one of the new data points in the recently released 2024 Parochial Report. Of the 6,707 open parishes and missions, 94.1 percent provided information about their congregations.
The political state of Generation Z
Key to Donald Trump’s victory last fall was his ability to make inroads with voters who traditionally supported Democratic presidential candidates, including voters of color and younger voters — particularly men.
As journalists, activists and politicians all attempt to understand and explain Gen Zers’ reactions to the second Trump administration, I analyzed PRRI’s latest survey for clues about our nation’s youngest voters’ attitudes today.
America is now plagued by twin calamities — but there are two ways to fight back
Donald Trump’s demolition of the East Wing of the White House isn’t just an architectural abomination; it’s symbolic of the wrecking ball he’s taken to the Constitution. Driven by his unbounded megalomania and supported by the high-tech oligarchy and a Cabinet of fawning sycophants, the 79-year-old president has precipitated a constitutional crisis and set the nation on the road to authoritarianism and democratic collapse.
Evangelical churches are 'quiet quitting' Trump as flocks sickened by tactics: expert
Large numbers of evangelicals and Catholic churches are "quiet quitting" President Donald Trump and leaving MAGA — hoping to avoid isolating people who are still devotees but are distancing themselves from the president's aggressive immigration policies and remarks, Axios reported on Wednesday.
Some congregation members are stepping away from supporting Trump and pastors are attempting to pander to them, even steering clear of political sermons and messages, according to the report.
Christian aid groups denounce Trump for cutting refugee resettlement to historic low
The Trump administration will cap the U.S. refugee resettlement ceiling for fiscal year 2026 to a historic low, drawing criticism from Christian aid organizations who say it abandons bona fide refugees already approved for resettlement, including persecuted Christians.
White House official message drowned out as MAGA fails to contain hate: analyst
The White House is scrambling to have its official messaging over the end of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program payments heard — but it's being drowned out by hateful braying from the MAGA crowd, according to an MSNBC columnist.
The Republican Party's stance on the benefits being cut Saturday as a government shutdown enters its second month is oscillating, wrote Ja'han Jones, with messaging swinging between feigned sympathy and outright contempt for recipients.
Another lawsuit seeks to continue food stamp benefits
A coalition of faith-based nonprofits, small businesses and local governments filed suit Oct. 30 to challenge President Donald Trump’s refusal to continue food stamp funding during the government shutdown.
The action filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island comes on the heels of another lawsuit filed by 25 states seeking to force the continuation of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for its 42 million recipients.
Mission Agency, Churches Work to Fill Aid Gaps
Faced with a hunger crisis in the U.S., The United Methodist Church’s mission agency is stepping up to help keep church food pantry shelves from going empty.
The United Methodist Board of Global Ministries announced Oct. 30 that it is introducing Feeding Our Neighbors grants, offering up to $2,000 in emergency funding for United Methodist church food ministries and pantries.
While developments like this one are welcome, churches and non-profits cannot fill the food gap that the suspension of SNAP benefits has created. It is unrealistic to expect them to mitigate, much less avert, the hunger crisis in the United States.The State of the Church Before the Reformation
Why was there a Reformation? What was the church like just before the Reformation took place? Why did the Reformation have to happen? By looking at these questions we can begin to gain some understanding of our own situation today.
Following Through on A Needed Reformation
The distance between the Holy Door of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome and the front steps of the Castel Sant’Angelo is just over half a mile. On one bright October Sunday afternoon, there stood a solid line of thousands back at the Castel waiting their turn to walk through the Holy Door (Santa Porta). Half a mile of thousands upon thousands of people waiting to cross through the threshold of a door the papacy declared “holy.” Half a mile of multitudes gathered in Rome to walk through a doorway in hopes of receiving a “Jubilee Indulgence“ for the “remission and forgiveness of all their sins, which can be applied in suffrage to the souls in Purgatory.” Half a mile of sojourners lined up, banking their hope on something they were told would not disappoint.
Spirit-Infused Common Prayer
Our role as worship planners and service leaders is to be facilitators. This means being open to the Holy Spirit’s leading ourselves as well as facilitating a life-transforming encounter for attendees of our worship gatherings with the living God. As well as selecting hymns, songs, Scripture readings, and prayers that will facilitate such an encounter and preparing sermons to that end, our task is to prune the dead wood from the liturgy, those elements that keep the liturgy from serving that purpose.
A Case for Vibrant Anglican Worship
Must Anglican worship be stodgy—dull and uninspired? Is stodginess a characteristic of Anglican worship with which we must grit our teeth and bear and from which we have no hope of breaking free? This is what one post on Facebook inferred in a comment thread in which I participated. The individual who posted the comment may not have been serious, but he raised a point. Is Anglican worship inescapably wedded to stodginess?
Churches Take Sunday Worship into the Field
On Sunday, September 21, 2025, over a dozen churches from the Greater Detroit District heeded the call to move outside the walls of their buildings to serve in their communities. The district-led mission initiative, called The Church Has Left the Building, encouraged congregations to replace their typical Sunday worship service with a day of mission engagement.
...have you ever secretly, quietly, wondered, “God are you with me right now?”
Intellectually, biblically, you know He is, but in the quiet of the night, it might not always feel that way.
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