The Burge Report: Retention Rates in Churches Are Not What They Used to Be (Here’s Why)

Rainer on Leadership

How many people are really leaving their childhood faith? Ryan Burge joins Thom and Sam on this special episode to unpack important data for churches. Retention rates are a good indicator of how well a church disciples people. Keeping people is a major part of church health. The hosts discuss the data concerning national trends with church retention.

• • A retention rate is the percentage of people who were raised in a certain faith tradition that still affiliate with that same tradition as adults.
  • Mainline Protestants struggle with retention. The rate was 76% in the 1970s. Today it is 58%.
  • Conservative Evangelicals fare better. Retention rates in the 1970s were 78%. Today it is 73%.
  • When a mainline Protestant leaves their tradition, they are almost as likely to become an evangelical as a none (14% vs 20%).
  • When evangelicals leave, the most likely landing spot is nones at 13%. But that’s that many folks at the end of the day.
  • The exvangelical movement is really not that big. The mainline to evangelical pipeline is actually larger.
  • What might the future hold? The aging of congregations and “leaky boats” with more holes.

Resources:

• Tithe.ly

• 2023 State of Church Giving

• “How Many People Leave Their Childhood Religion?” by Ryan Burge

• Ryan Burge

• Know Your Community

• Church Health Scorecard

• “The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church” by Sarah McCammon (affiliate link)

• The Everything Church Resource Directory

• The Hope Initiative

• Get your FREE tool! Attendance Growth Projector

Episode Sponsors:

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