How quickly is your congregation growing older?

Research Insight Three: Why is it important to track the average age of members of your congregation and how many years they have been members?

Five years ago, Cornerstone congregation — a common type of congregation I encounter in my ministry — surveyed active attendees to identify their characteristics. No names were requested, and only the answers to the questions were collected.

They used a short survey on a four-by-six card that asked 10 questions of each family or household present. Only one person per family or household completed the survey.

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Some congregations also do this online, so it tallies automatically.

Demographic data results

Two questions asked for each person’s birth year and how long they had attended the congregation.

When they did this survey, they were urged to repeat it annually to track changes, but they didn’t survey again for five years.

What did they discover? Attendance had not grown much. Few people joined, and few left.

The second survey results were discouraging. Over the past five years, the average age of Sunday attendees increased by four years, from 48 to 52. The average tenure of attendees at the congregation had also increased by four years, from 14 to 18.

The change in the average age of attendees confirmed that few adult-led families and households under 45 had actively connected with the congregation since the last survey. The Sunday Bible study group for people under 45 had struggled to reach and retain new members for several years.

Community population demographics showed that young-to-middle-aged households were increasing, but they were not connecting with Cornerstone. Was it the Bible study, the worship or the programs for children and youth?

When cooler heads prevail

At first, there was finger-pointing, but cooler heads prevailed, and leaders acknowledged that everyone’s complacency allowed this focus on young-to-middle-aged families and households to go without sufficient attention.

It was clear the active congregation was beginning to be dominated by empty nesters, senior adults and mostly people who had been attending for 20 years or more.

The age and tenure trends for Cornerstone are not at a crisis point. In fact, they are typical of a congregation that was launched 35 or more years ago. This is not a crisis but rather an opportunity to act proactively.

First, assuming their community is experiencing an increase in families with children under 18, the church can begin having strategic conversations with families in this demographic within the congregation. This might determine what steps are needed to improve the quality and effectiveness of programs for these families and households.

Second, while working with these same families, leaders can explore opportunities to connect with these families in the community to nurture a spiritual relationship. They can also discover if these families are looking for a congregation and what type.

Third, they can work with longer-tenured members to develop a system for coaching newer members into leadership roles in the congregation. This implies that some longer-tenured members may need to step aside or move on to another spiritual leadership interest to make room for newer, younger members to ascend into leadership.

Coming up next

Research Insight Four: How many leaders does your congregation need to be a vital and vibrant disciple-making congregation? What do the numbers three, seven and 21 have to do with it?