Building Church Attendance that Endures

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

In their recent book, The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back?, Jim Davis and Michael Graham tackle some of the most significant needs in the church today. The authors hired professional demographers to thoroughly study who has left the church in the last decade and why they left. But, as the book’s subtitle hints, they are also concerned with whether they can be brought back to church.

Some of the news is unsurprising to the typical pastor who has weathered the storm in our culture in the last 5-10 years. But there are hopeful revelations in the book. There are more people than we think who are open to returning to church if a friend were to invite them.

This is not a book review but a response to one of the issues the book raised in my mind. I see good reasons to double down on building an “everyman ecclesiology.” In other words, I think it would be useful to the church today if pastors and congregations could verbalize and embody good reasons for Christians to attend church and be engaged.

Davis and Graham learned that most who left did not leave because of abuse or theological deconstruction (though some did). Most people left church because they got busy, bored, or built new habits that did not include the church. Many people may not be averse to returning; they just do not see the value.

Contributing versus consuming

In many ways, ours is a consumer culture. For every need or want, there are innumerable choices, including where someone can attend church or any number of other things to do on a weekend. And if you live close to the mountains or water, forget it. Whether we have reflected on our habits or not, a culture with many options has shaped us. And with many options comes the expectation that we can choose what we want when we want.

But, in the long run, a life of consumption does not fill us with the meaning it promises. We can enjoy a nice car, but it cannot answer the heart’s questions about why we exist. Instead of just consuming, God created us first to be contributors.

This makes for true and useful vocabulary about involvement in a local church. Our attendance is for the sake of God’s glory, and it is for the sake of our families and fellow congregants. We gather together to bear witness to our neighborhoods and each other that we belong to God, and he deserves our time and effort. If my neighbors see me and my wife climbing into our car with our Colorado Avalanche jerseys on, they know where our loyalties lie. How much more when they know we leave every Sunday morning for church?

Likewise, we bless our neighbors in the pews when we prioritize face-to-face time with our spiritual brothers and sisters. Far more than just adding up numbers for our reports, I need my spiritual support network to show up at church. It is good for us socially, psychologically, and spiritually.

A vision for “us”

Contributing to our local churches inevitably leads to learning the value of collective vision and the importance of raising the next generation. Pastors are always grateful for the members of the congregation who see the value of the local church and what it can do for a family and a community. Scripture is clear about the value of living our faith with the body of Christ. Paul even puts it in terms of our endurance in Romans 15:5 when he writes, “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus.”

These notes of endurance and encouragement are critical for us. Paul places them in the context of living in harmony – unity – with one another. Building a healthy and engaged congregation is good for everyone involved. And it is not just any unity, but harmony in accord with Christ Jesus. We gather for a larger purpose than our own wants and needs. The church gathers to read and submit itself to the Word of God, to glorify God, and to make him known.

God designated no other organization on earth to do these things. The church is utterly unique.

Help men know it is courageous

These are goals fit for Christian men. Not neglecting the role of godly women in the church but recognizing a lack of male engagement, it will be good for pastors to encourage men to have this impact. If a young husband wants to know what it means to be a spiritual leader, church attendance is a good place to begin.

God created men to stand between what is good and lovable and what is evil and destructive. The corrosive aspects of the culture around us want to make their way into the church. But God’s men stand in the way. And they can only do that if they are present and engaged.

I pray that our churches find health and impact through the anointed engagement of the followers of Christ.

©2023, 2025 Phil Steiger. Used with permission.