Survey: Once a Church Closes, Many ‘Christians’ Stop Attending Altogether, Including 81% of Seniors?
Showing themselves to be goats and not sheep, a new survey of nearly 3000 UK Christians shows that once a local church closes, a large percentage stop attending altogether or far less frequently, including 81% of senior citizens.
Conducted with 2667 UK Christians by the National Church Trust, Christian Today reports:
Over a fifth (22%) of churchgoers currently attending in-person services said they would be unwilling or unable to attend a different church if their church were to close….Another 7% said they would worship online only if their church closed, while the same proportion said that they would attend a different church but less often than currently.
Older people aged 65 and over were most likely to drift away, with only a fifth of this age group (19%) saying they would find a new church to attend as often as they do currently. Even among 18 to 24 year olds, only a quarter (28%) said they would find a new church.
Put another way, the entire country is largely populated by cultural Christians who don’t love the Lord or his word. Rather than seeking family and fellowship with a new body once their building closes, they run away and hide, treating the Bride of Christ like a whore the entire time.
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I imagine part of the reason so many seniors cease attending church is because the one they were attending was close and accessible.
I can’t agree with that perspective in the least. I’m a middle aged Christian who’s walked with the Lord for 50+ years and I’m very fundamental in my beliefs which is why I find myself unchurched for the first time in my life. I belong to a very small Methodist Church in Belfast N. Ireland, UK, which has just installed a woman pastor for the first time. While there are plenty of other churches locally, I find none of them to hold to scripture accurately nor to be great in their attitude to worship etc. I appreciate, in part, I won’t find a “perfect” church, but I do want solid teaching & good pastoral care. Ideally I don’t want to leave my church of 25 years and this woman will only be there for 2 years or so (Methodist ministers move every 4 years here) – as yet, God hasn’t led me anywhere else but it’s not for the want of praying to know the next step.
So I think it’s a bit unfair to lump everyone into such an awful box of hiding & ” treating the Bride of Christ like a whore the entire time.”!