The decline in the number of people in many churches’ congregations began long before the appearance of COVID and the pandemic. While the pandemic certainly accentuated this decline, I ask: “Are we seeing congregations returning to in-person, face-to-face worship services, or have they been replaced by online religious services?” “Can the local church compete with the convenience of ‘staying at home’ or the quality of many online programs?”
As it is written in Romans 12:4-5 NLT: “Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.” Irrespective of our religious denomination, we need to be part of a local community! Our need for community will be fulfilled, whether in the church or somewhere else. How can the convenience of staying home and well-done programming be overcome?
Carey Nieuwhof published a blog, “5 Reasons Engagement Will Drive Almost All Future Church Growth,” in which he stated, “If you want your church to grow, stop trying to attract people and start trying to engage people.” I have been a student of the topic of employee engagement since the Gallup Organization released its findings in 2000. Over the past twenty-plus years, the percent of people who are involved in, enthusiastic about, and committed to their work has ranged from 30-40%. The issue of engagement is one that plagues institutions across all sectors government, academia, business, service clubs, and religion. To maintain stability and encourage growth in any institution I humbly suggest the small group method, as it is a tool most uniquely suited to improving engagement. I detail my own experience with this method in “Appendix II” of my book, The Miracle of Humble Leadership, and in a related report recently published in the Journal of Dental Education