Why Are Churches Struggling With Attendance?

In recent years, many churches have been asking the same difficult question: Why are we struggling with attendance? It’s tempting to point to outside factors or to blame “those other people” –the ones who used to attend but no longer walk through our doors. But if we’re honest, the deeper issue may not lie outside the church at all.

The real challenge begins within our own hearts.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus warns repeatedly about the danger of a hardened heart. This warning isn’t just for individuals; entire congregations can fall into the same condition. When a church becomes spiritually rigid, inward-focused, or cold, visitors sense it immediately. They may not be able to explain it, but they feel it – and they often don’t return because they didn’t feel welcomed or embraced.

If we want to be a church that draws people in rather than pushes them away, we must begin with the work Christ has already given us to do. Paul describes this work in Galatians 5:22-23:

“But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control; against such things there is no law.”

These qualities do not save us – only Christ can do that – but they do shape a church into a place where people experience the presence of God through His people. A congregation marked by the fruit of the Spirit becomes naturally warm, naturally inviting, and naturally alive. If the Church wants to address declining attendance, we must begin not with blame, but with repentance. Not with frustration at the world, but with a renewed commitment to show Christ’s love to the world. Not with programs or strategies, but with the fruit of the Spirit growing within us.

When our hearts soften, our doors open wider.

When our lives reflect Christ, people notice.

And when the Spirit is at work among us, the church becomes exactly what Christ intended – a place of hope, truth, and forgiveness.

Pastor Bob