Introduction
Churches are only as strong as their membership. Now, that's a pretty obvious statement. A 2020 survey found that the average congregation size across Christian denominations is less than half what it was in 2000 — down to 65 from 137. As the US adjusts to an increasingly non-religious population, thousands of churches are closing each year in the country.
U.S. church membership was 73% when Gallup first measured it in 1937 and remained near 70% for the next six decades before beginning a steady decline around the turn of the 21st century. The decline in church membership is primarily due to the increasing number of Americans who express no religious preference. Over the past two decades, the percentage of Americans who do not identify with any religion has grown from 8% in 1999 to 13% in 2009 and 21% over the past three years. Clearly, every indicator says the church in America is in trouble.
The Revelation letter addressed to Sardis, called Sardis a “dead” church. Jesus’ w…
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