Results of the Research
Churches are challenged by declining Church attendance.
Many leave because church “is boring, unchanging, irrelevant, said nothing to them about their life and was completely unconnected to their experience”
While 1,000 new people are joining a church each week, 2,500 are leaving. Congregational churches have similar problems as the following diagram based on the Congregational Federation year books, illustrate.
Question two of the general questionnaire asked respondents to name two big challenges that their church faces. There were 780 responses to this question and these responses can be grouped under seven headings
Challenges Responses
Growth 396
Surrounding community 95
Spiritual growth 80
Buildings 68
Leadership 50
Finance 50
Miscellaneous 41
(1) Challenges relating to Growth. By far the biggest number of comments fell within this category. True, some churches had growth challenges concerning expanding congregations e.g. how to accommodate “An influx of young people” but in the main comments were directed to the wish to grow, especially at the younger end. “An ageing congregation and lack of children and young people” featured strongly. Also concerns about “What is going to happen when we can no longer carry on” surfaced many times. Several correspondents were worried about the absence of “children and young people” within their congregations so much so that it seemed as if some individual respondents felt they were not a “proper” church, as they didn’t have children or young people. Thankfully this narrow view of church is disappearing as the “Fresh Expressions” movement celebrates a wide variety of groupings that can rightly be seen as “church”.
(2) Challenges relating to the surrounding community. The second largest number of comments from the general questionnaire included those challenges relating to the surrounding community. Challenges like “Relating to a multi-cultural society”; “A thoughtful scholarly congregation in an area not noted for those qualities”; “Helping to keep young people away from drugs”; “Planting a new church”; “Vandalism” and “Competing interests on Sunday”.
(3) Challenges relating to the spiritual growth in church members. Closely following challenges relating to the surrounding community were those challenges concerning the spiritual growth of the faith community itself: “Church too often viewed as a club alongside other commitments (and often seen as less important)”; “Lack of commitment”; “Developing a gift based form of ministry in the church”; “Developing prayer and bible study”; “Facing the challenge of church in the 21st century”; “Reconciling young and old especially regarding music”; “Integrating Korean and English Congregations” and “Getting people involved in a living/loving relationship with Jesus Christ”.
(4) Challenges relating to buildings. Comments covered such matters as: “Maintenance”; “Need for updating”; “Access problems”; “Uniting with another church presenting problems of which building to keep” and a challenge which many churches apparently would relish, “Need for additional accommodation for growing Sunday school and youth club”.
(5) Challenges relating to leadership. Comments included: “Cannot afford a pastor”; “Challenge of finding good preachers”; “Persuading the minister to concentrate on pastoral care”; “Encouraging people to take leadership roles”; “Lack of regular organist”; “Stagnant leadership”; “Finding children and young people leaders”; and “Lack of vision
(6) Challenges relating to finance. Financial matters also featured in the list. In most cases these were tied up with buildings i.e. “Running repairs to church” and “Providing additional accommodation”. However they were also tied up with the payment of a minister/leader, as one respondent put it: “The church has a choice sell the building off or no paid leadership”.
The project shows from a local viewpoint the enormous challenges both from without and within that confront the churches belonging to the CF as they enter the 21st century.
A number of points, which it is hoped will be helpful, have been raised as to how being part of the Congregational Federation can assist churches today of which three in particular stand out:
(1) Help with growth
(2) Improving communication
(3) Leadership and leadership skills
But can we look at it from another perspective. Are these findings and observations radical enough? However CF seeks to provide and improve help with growth, communication, leadership, what is the shape of Congregational churches needed for today’s world?
You can download this synopisis with more detail in leaflet form opposite and also the full Research Project.