Trying to understand church attendance data from the last couple of decades is not a simple task, with a general lack of easily accessible data.
The general consensus was the average was under 100 people and this seems to back it up some stark conclusions you can possibly come to.
Some thoughts:
1. Regular church attendance was on a decline this century and covid increased the decline. Lock downs would obviously contribute to the stats even though churches did their best to measure "online" attendance.
2. It is encouraging to see growth since the low and also a little depressing to see how far attendance has decreased over the sample period. This data reflects the changing attendance patterns (less regular attendance and less people).
3. The Church has great potential with careful and considered planning for the future.
4. What is not shown here is the general aging issue many churches will need to face up to over the next decade. Just because a church has "good numbers" and financial position right now does not guarantee the same in a decade, especially if the average age is 50 years plus.
5. There is still a major demographic gap in young adults in most churches as the majority do not stay engaged post high school. This can be different in larger centres and larger church contexts, but the pattern still exists.
