Baptist Press
By Aaron Earls, posted April 15, 2025 in Lifeway
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — Most pastors believe their churches will be around for at least another decade, but that’s not the reality for some.
According to a Lifeway Research study of U.S. Protestant pastors, 94 percent believe their churches will still exist in 10 years, 4 percent disagree and 2 percent aren’t sure. Yet, even among the more than 9 in 10 who are looking forward to an extended future, some doubt remains. Fewer than 4 in 5 (78 percent) strongly agree they expect their church to have at least another decade.
“The vast majority of pastors expect their church will have longevity,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “Throughout the country, there are churches over 100 years old that illustrate this is not far-fetched. Most pastors value practices that reach new people and renew a congregation. The same optimism about the life expectancy of their church flows into their renewal efforts.”
Hope for the future
Some pastors are more likely to feel confident in their congregations’ future. Protestant pastors in the Northeast (97 percent) are more likely than those in the West (91 percent) to believe their church will still exist in 10 years. According to the most recent Pew Research Religious Landscape Study, however, regular church attendance is less common in the Northeast than in any other region, with 26 percent attending at least monthly. The Northeast is also the least Protestant region in the U.S., according to Pew Research.
Denominationally, more Pentecostal pastors (97 percent) than Presbyterian/Reformed pastors (90 percent) express confidence their church will be around for at least another decade.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, small church pastors feel the most anxiety over the future of the congregations they lead. Those leading churches with fewer than 50 in attendance are the least likely to agree their church will still exist in 10 years (88 percent) and most likely to disagree (8 percent). More Here
