The changing religious landscape in the United States includes a decline in the total number of Protestant churches.
In 2024, Lifeway Research estimates 3,800 new Protestant churches were started in the U.S., while 4,000 churches were closed. This is based on analysis of congregational information provided by 35 denominations or faith groups, representing 58% of all Protestant churches.
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“Some individual denominations release annual numbers related to church plants and church closures, but we are grateful many more were willing to contribute unpublished numbers to help us understand the bigger picture of Protestant churches today,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research.
“Given recent declines in Americans identifying as Christians, churches show a remarkable ability to remain open, even with fewer attendees on average.”
The 200-church gap between those closed and those opened represents a significant improvement over the 2019 numbers. In the most recent previous analysis, 1,500 more churches closed than opened. Five years ago, there were 4,500 closures compared to 3,000 openings. Ten years ago, however, Lifeway Research found more Protestant churches were planted (4,000) than closed (3,700) in 2014.
“It’s hard to overstate the importance of church planting in the landscape of faith in America today,” said Ed Stetzer, dean of the Talbot School of Theology at Biola University and author of several books on church planting and church growth.
“Simply put, without church planting, every denomination that’s growing would be shrinking and every denomination that’s shrinking would be shrinking more. Church planting is the most significant engine for evangelistic growth that we have in the world today.”
Using the U.S. Religion Census 2020 estimate of approximately 293,000 Protestant congregations in the U.S., the 4,000 closures in 2024 represent almost 1.4% of all U.S. Protestant churches. Protestant congregations in the U.S., the 4,000 closures in 2024 represent slightly more than 1% of all U.S. Protestant churches.
Lifeway Research’s analysis of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, found 1.4% of active Southern Baptist congregations disbanded or closed and 0.4% left or were disaffiliated between 2023 and 2024.
For more information, view the report on Southern Baptist Convention ACP analysis, and visit LifewayResearch.com.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Aaron Earls and originally published by Lifeway.
