Download the Q1 2023 Unstuck Church Report
Every quarter, The Unstuck Group compiles all the data we’ve collected to monitor trends in churches in the United States and around the world. For this quarter’s report, we only included churches that provided data during the four weeks between January 4 and February 1, 2023.
We received survey responses from 349 churches that ranged in size from under 100 to over 7,000 in physical attendance for worship gatherings. This provides a very current snapshot of ministries of all shapes and sizes.
The Differences Between Growing & Declining/Plateaued Churches
Though overall attendance is up more than 20% in the churches we surveyed, that really tells only part of the story. Among all the churches that responded to the survey, about one in five of those churches is plateaued or facing an attendance decline. What stood out to me were some of the key differences between the growing churches and those that are in decline. For example:
- Growing churches are more likely to have small groups and more people connected to those smaller groups while declining churches are more likely to have Sunday school.
- Declining churches have fewer people making decisions to follow Jesus or getting baptized.
- Declining churches have far fewer first-time connections to the church—indicating that they’ve become insider-focused.
- Growing churches spend less on paid staff and have more volunteer engagement.
- Declining churches are more likely to be connected to a denomination.
Get Your FREE Copy of The Q1 2023 Unstuck Church Report
Alongside data on the distinctions between growing and declining/plateaued churches, this quarter’s Unstuck Church Report consists of 20 metrics that highlight trends with an impact on church health. We focus on 4 key areas to give you benchmarks and an objective look at where the Church may be headed:
- Ministry Reach
- Ministry Connection
- Ministry Staffing & Structure
- Ministry Finances
The report also features updated data on the church lifecycle, a summary of the data by church size, and additional insights from report sponsor Christian Financial Resources.
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