Last week I attended the annual meeting of the Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership (CCSP), the interfaith group of researchers who focus on local church life. Cynthia Woolever was one of the speakers and she shared early findings from the second wave of the U.S. Congregational Life study (USCL) which compares data from the base line survey in 2001 and the most recent survey in 2008-2009. I share some interesting pieces:
1. Congregations are making increasing use of the Internet. Those who have web sites has gone from 45 percent to 77 percent and those who send out Email newsletters or announcements have gone from 43 percent to 74 percent.
2. There is increasing diversification in worship. Just 56 percent are using mainly traditional hymns now, while a third are using praise music and a quarter are using contemporary music.
3. There has been a significant increase in the percentage of congregations involved in community services. In 2001 about two-thirds provided some kind of emergency relief services while today it is over 90 percent. Those sponsoring programs for children and youth in the community has nearly doubled from 28 percent to 52 percent, as has those who provide some kind of health program, jumping from a quarter to 40 percent. The number of congregations sponsoring a 12-step group or Recovery ministry of some kind has also doubled from 13 percent to 25 percent. Congregations involved in social justice initiatives has also nearly doubled from 13 percent to 23 percent and those doing some kind of environmental project has increased three times, moving from four percent to 13 percent.
4. Most congregations remain small. Two out of three have fewer than 150 people in attendance each week. Only one percent of American congregations exceed 2,000 in attendance.
5. Congregations are raising more money and have significantly greater funding demands. The median total giving for U.S. congregations (adjusted for inflation) has gone from $210,000 in 2001 to $310,000 in 2008. This despite the fact that more than a third report a declining financial base.
6. The participants in most congregations are getting older. The median age was 50 in 2001 and it was 54 in 2008. Only eight percent of the people in church are 15 to 24 years of age.
7. The people who go to church are much better educated than most Americans: 47 percent of church attenders have a college degree compared to 27 percent of the general population in the 2008 U.S. Census American Community Survey.
8. People go to church less often than they used to. Four out of five reported weekly attendance in 2001 while only three-quarters did so in 2008. Those who have invited someone to chruch has dropped from 46 percent to 43 percent which may not be a significant change.
9. The percentage of non-members attending has increased only a little, from 11 percent in 2001 to 13 percent in 2008. But among those under 45 years of age it is one in five (19 percent).
A number of things have not changed, reports Woolever. Women still make up 60 percent of the average congregation, two thirds of the members are married and 43 percent of the families have children. The percentage of people involved in small group ministries, giving and leadership has not changed.
Much more has been published in a new book which I will introduce later this week.