More Protestant churches closing than opening
As congregations age, more Protestant churches are closing than opening in the United States, according to a study by Lifeway Research. Although 3,800 churches opened in 2024, around 4,00 closed. This represents 1.4 percent of the 293,000 Protestant churches listed in the U.S. Religion Census in 2020.
“The immediate impact of COVID appears to have passed,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “Denominations have discovered those that closed during quarantine and never reopened. However, the typical church in America has fewer attendees than it did 20 years ago. These assemblies are often weaker than prior generations. But at the same time, new churches are flourishing, and a subset of churches are growing.”
Although 94 percent of Protestant pastors surveyed said they don’t believe their churches will close in the next decade, about 4 percent disagree and another 2 percent said they aren’t sure. Pastors leading congregations with fewer than 50 people attending weekly services were the least likely to agree that their churches would survive another decade.
The study also found that new congregations were more likely to be growing than older ones. Southern Baptist churches that began since 2000 grew by 12 percent, while membership in churches founded between 1950 and 1999 declined by 11 percent. Those that started between 1900 and 1949 declined by 13 percent, while those that started before 1900 declined by 11 percent.
“While the American church landscape changes slowly, it is not standing still,” McConnel said. “The future of Protestant churches in America lies in reaching new people with the offer of salvation through Jesus Christ. Most growth in the United States happens in new communities. Church planting is vital to share the gospel in these new communities, as well as communities in which the population is changing or previous churches have closed.”
Thom Rainer, former president and CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources, said a year ago that about 15,000 churches would close in 2025 and another 15,000 would shift from having full-time to part-time pastors.
“For the first time in modern church history, 15,000 of the churches will cease to exist in a period of one year,” he wrote in “The Christian Post. “Notice that we are projecting that 15,000 churches will close and that 15,000 will move from full-time pastors to part-time pastors. Those 30,000 churches represent about on out of 12 existing churches. The change is dramatic.”
Wesley Widman, a professor of theology, philosophy and ethics at Boston University, blames the decline on America’s growing secularization as fewer people have a religious affiliation and are attending church services.
–Alan Goforth
