Research by Dr. Richard J. Krejcir – Francis A. Schaeffer Institute of Church Leadership
Development (FASICLD)
- Every year more than 4000 churches close their doors compared to just over 1000
new church starts! - Every year, 2.7 million church members fall into inactivity.
- The United States now ranks third (3rd) following China and India in the number of
people who are not professing Christians - Half of all churches in the US did not add any new members to their ranks in the last
two years.
My church growth colleagues have drummed up their reasons for the decline of the Church such as a lack of several key areas that are not functioning right in the local church. These areas are in the realm of vision, leadership, evangelism efforts, communication, church mentality, capital, child care, youth programs, and being seeker-sensitive. When these key areas are not functioning, the existing people will leave and others will not come. However, I have also found other factors that are in real, critical areas such as not teaching the Word or making God’s Word boring so that people are turned off. In addition, when our teaching is not tied into the needs of our people, we are failing to contextualize the message to the community. Then, the people will get the feeling that the teaching or the church is not informative, in-depth, or relevant to them, thus they are not receiving anything worthwhile from which they can grow or use in their daily lives.
The following are essential to the Christian’s walk of faith:
- A caring, effective love relationship with Jesus Christ as LORD.
- A lifestyle dedicated to obeying God’s Will.
- Daily devotional times, prayer, and studying of God’s Word.
- A joyful love and willingness to serve our Lord, even through personal sacrifice.
- A witness for Christ without hypocrisy.
- A firm desire to be God’s child through trust and obedience.
- A working faith in God’s promises for all daily needs and in all situations.