6 Ways Cultural Change Has Affected Worship Attendance

When churches analyze declining worship attendance, they often look internally:

 "What are we doing wrong?"

 "Why are we driving people away?"

But the declining numbers are more the result of external factors. Through no fault of the church, the culture has changed, and people are less likely to value worship attendance. If we turn our gaze away from ourselves, and out into the world, we will understand more completely what we are called to do to be faithful in this new era.

Over the next few posts, I will examine a number of shifts in the general culture of North America that incline people not to attend worship. Here are the first six:

1. Rapidly changing technology - We have shifted from perhaps one major innovation per generation to major technological changes every few years. People are in a perpetual state of adaptation to something new. We have developed an expectation of novelty, and become easily bored with the “same old, same old.” Churches tend to be much more static in worship practices and do not value variety and novelty as an attractive feature. Perhaps we should.

2. Communication has diversified and shortened our attention spans - Most of us were raised on four predominant modes of communication (“snail mail”, telephone, radio and TV) - all based on attention spans ranging from a few minutes to an hour or more. Today, we have added email, texting, websites, and various forms of social media to the mix - all of which require a much shorter attention span. Yet in worship, most churches use one or two communication forms and still require a 15-20 minute attention span for its message to be received. And we wonder why people say worship is boring and stay away.

3. Growing virtual reality - People are spending more time staring at screens and less time focused on the physical world around them. Many churches worship in a way that demands full attention in physical space. Even ones that offer screens as part of the experience often frown on individual use of devices during a service. This reality exposes a significant generation gap that we need to take seriously if we want to make worship vital for younger folks. Or should worship be a rare time away from the virtual world?

4. Increasing mobility - People move more frequently than in the past. Very few spend most of their lives in one area. Many folks are in a state of permanent transience, adjusting to a new hometown every couple of years. Moving is typically a time when people lose contact with worship participation and do not return. Those who move frequently are likely never to find a place to worship. 

5. Distance from family - A positive influence from a family member is often what draws a person to worship or keeps them attending. In a transient culture, many people have no family support in their areas, and therefore have no one encouraging them to make it to worship each week. 

 6. Spiritual homelessness - Many churches rely on loyalty to the tradition to undergird worship attendance. These days, that sense of loyalty is rapidly declining. People are much less likely to attend worship because it is the closest expression of a tradition they identify with. Instead, many feel a sense of spiritual homelessness and go "church shopping" for the service where they feel most comfortable. Or, their lack of loyalty to a tradition causes them not to attend at all.

There will be many more reasons to add to this list. A quick caveat to close:

I am aware that worship practices are not the primary way God is calling us to seek New Wineskins. But declining worship attendance is the number one sign that things must change. If we understand why people are not coming to worship, we can then make the shift to finding ways we can reach people with the Gospel - which may include worship, but likely centers on something different.