I don’t hear many church leaders advocating weekly worship attendance of their church members. They do not want to be legalistic. They do not want to suggest church should come before entertainment, sports, and sleeping in. Perhaps some of them do not want to hold themselves to the same level of expectations and accountability.
It’s a mistake. A big mistake.
Before we look at the reasons why weekly church attendance should be the norm, let’s see where we’ve evolved. For simplicity, I will use only two years of data: 2008 and 2024. It is sad to see the changes in just 16 years.
The Categories
The goal of leaders should be moving church members to weekly attendance. The Core has declined from 31% of Americans to 25%. The effects of a six-point decline are major. These members who attend weekly are your church’s most faithful volunteers, givers, and inviters.
We called the monthly attendees Capricious. They are difficult to predict. Some will return to more frequent attendance, and others will move to the less-frequent categories. Their numbers are the smallest of any of the categories (10% and 7%) because they usually don’t stick here. They could move to higher commitment or lower commitment on a whim. It is important for church leaders to identify the Capricious to encourage them toward higher commitment.
Both the Casual and Conditional attendees are really church dropouts. The Casual will most likely attend on Christmas Eve or Easter. It is vital for your church to have a Christmas Eve service, the most likely time these persons will attend. I met with a pastor who refused to have a Christmas Eve service because it was his family tradition to open gifts on that day. Humbug! Move your family tradition to December 23 and reach people with the gospel.
The Conditional will only come to church typically with some life-altering event. What was the day that more Conditionals came to church in recent history? It was September 16, 2001, the first Sunday after the 9-11 attacks.
The Closed never go to church. Their attendance is rare. Many of them are second and third-generation unchurched people. Look at the numbers in the chart. The Closed grew the fastest from 2008 to 2024, a full 14 percentage points.
The Solution?
There is no silver bullet, but allow me to make three suggested strategies. First, add faithful attendance as an item in your prayer ministry. If you don’t have a vibrant prayer ministry, look at The Hope Initiative as a great starting point. Second, do your best to identify those who are Capricious (monthly) and Casual (yearly). When your church has a special event, specifically reach out to these infrequent attenders. Invite Your One is a great tool to use with a special event at your church.
Third, emphasize small groups or Sunday school classes consistently. Those who are in a group are five times more likely to be weekly attenders than worship-only attenders, and they give eight times as much as those who attend worship services only. Groups have sticky power.
Stop Apologizing for Expecting Faithful Attendance
I’ve noticed that some pastors and other church leaders are reluctant to encourage church members to attend faithfully, particularly weekly. In the words of the famous Bob Newhart, “Stop it!” The New Testament, from Acts to Revelation 3, was either written to a local church or was written about a local church. If it is that important to God, it should be that important to us.
The local church is God’s plan A for His mission on earth, and He didn’t leave us a plan B.
Weekly worship attendance should be the norm for Christians.
It’s just that important.
Posted on April 28, 2025
With nearly 40 years of ministry experience, Thom Rainer has spent a lifetime committed to the growth and health of local churches across North America.
More from Thom
18 Comments
Appreciate what you have to share!
Thank you, Danny.
6% drop in the weekly attenders category might SOUND like a small drop, but that is some 20 MILLION people in America!
You are exactly right, David.
I’ve been a pastor for 21 years. I fell in love with the gathered church, especially corporate prayer, worship, and anointed preaching, in high school in the 90s. My closest friends were at my side at that time. Now those same friends, some of whom have remained members of the church I serve, place a higher priority on extracurricular activities for their kids than corporate worship. Especially sports. This has caused a natural distance in those friendships, not to mention a gradual atrophy in my friends’ spiritual health. Alas, our society tells (suburban) parents that if they love their kids, they’ll sacrifice to help their kids be successful in athletics, theatre, music, etc., because “success” means going to a great college and hopefully getting a scholarship.
Compared to these things, church can seem basic, repetitive, with hard-to-measure growth (unlike earning another belt in Taekwondo or winning a baseball tournament). The issue here is “disordered loves.” I tell my friends the truth, that they are teaching their kids to value other things more than worship (today baseball, in 20 years, work or their kids’ baseball). But legalism and guilt won’t work. It’s not the best way to love these folks. I’m convicted, upon reading this article, to PRAY, earnestly and devotedly, for these families. I have to, because I want them to experience such love and power when they gather with the church that their own loves become ordered again… and only the Lord can do that.
Very well said, Mike.
There was a time that I questioned whether those that attended infrequently were committed to the Lord. I have softened on this point. I do believe that church attendance is important to the Lord but also to the spiritual health of the individual. My stand is the Lord has something for me and I will not miss out on it! So call me legalistic, but I do not want to miss out on what He has for me. I know it will be good. How can I skip that?
Good point, Larry.
Many individuals work on Sundays, which it interfers with attending Church activities. But they usually can see
many Pastors, on UTube, picking the church they would like to view. This is always available to those that can not attend a
regular Church. Between all the activities that go on during a weekend, different events, lead many to different sites for entertainment, food, watching ball games, going to the beach, or fishing, hunting, or a sporting event. Or just being lazing sitting at home, enjoying life. I tell this as a believer, and simply pray for more to attent a Church of their Choice. Doing this will make you day, and brighten you life living future it you let it. As the Bible tells all, You can do, or accomplish anything with God in your Heart. Salvation works, ask any true believer, and they will tell you. YES HE Lives. Past, Present, and Future ETERITY. Just give yourself a try, because it works.
Thank you.
Bravo!
And if you can’t attend regularly, you can’t be on the board. I was flabbergasted to receive push-back on that point in church I previously served.
Thanks, Thom!
For sure!
Thom,
I totally agree with your points in this post. It saddens me to see the decline in church attendance even by those who have been Christians for decades. I am an Associate Pastor at my church and I have the Wednesday night service. Only those who are the exceptionally faithful attend this service (around 6 people). It has made me question the need for this service. Sunday service attendance is also variable especially during the summer months. As you stated, church attendance is not emphasized enough. It’s definitely a matter for prayer and intentional focus.
Blessings
Mark
Thanks, Mark.
I almost fell out of my chair with the story of the minister who refused to have a Christmas Eve service just so he could open Christmas gifts. What about the precious gift of celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ into the world? Great article today. Thank you.
Thank you, William. It blows me away too.
Thank you for this – thought provoking and particularly helpful as I’m preaching on the importance of gathered worship this coming Sunday!
Thank you, Rachel.