Hardwick also encourages struggling or declining churches to go to a convention website (hopeforchurches.org) to gain some insights and help. We compared the results of the March ATP survey with three prior surveys conducted since the coronavirus outbreak. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. The painful efforts seemed, in a few hopeful moments, like they might work. Perhaps the pandemic will have positive changes for our churches that otherwise might have never occurred. This week, Barna announced that 5% of pastors now say their churches won't reopen this year after all - quite a jump from just two months ago. She told me she had been married there. Speaking to the NPRs Here and Now gathering, he stated, In the long run, I think well look back at this pandemic as a fundamental change to the way Americans attend church. In 2014, it found, there were 3,700 church closures, compared with 4,500 in 2019. Barely Anyone Reads the Bible in Germany. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Thousands of churches close every year. What will happen Suite 900-337 document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Can people find your church online? As thousands of churches close across the U.S., many fret about the inevitable decline of faith in American life. In May, none of the pastors said they planned on closing through the end of the year,Christian Headlines reported. The bill states that the government cant tell religious outlets to close for any reason, even during a pandemic. Politics latest updates: Half of Britons think Tories will lose seats There are more than 300,000 Protestant congregations in the United States. The 2015 study found newly planted churches were more effective than existing congregations at drawing people who werent connected with a church. The biggest reason for church closings is a decline in church membership. Here's NPR's Tom Gjelten. Closed But even before the pandemic, the pace of opening new congregations was not even providing enough replacements for those that closed their doors., Subscribe to CT This trend is very positive. (SOUNDBITE OF VEIL'S "CANYONS OF STATIC"). Jay Hardwick, associate executive director-treasurer and chief strategist for the South Carolina Baptist Convention, said, If something dramatic does not happen within five to 10 years, many churches will close their doors. Mergers and churches adopting or fostering other churches are anticipated to increase following the pandemic, Hardwick said. churches Church planting is slowing, and the number of closures is growing, said Ed Stetzer, executive director of the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center.