A Thirty-Year Look-Back at the Biggest Changes in the American Church

Rainer on Leadership

In this week’s episode, Sam asks Thom about some of the biggest shifts in the American church in the last thirty years. They discuss what has changed and why the shifts occurred. Some things changed for the better, and others changed for the worse.

• • Cultural Christianity died.
  • Transfer growth increased rapidly.
  • Evangelism programs disappeared.
  • Modern worship became predominant.
  • Megachurches peaked and declined.
  • Multisite churches proliferated.
  • Median church size dropped by half.
  • Denominational decline increased.
  • Institutional loyalty and trust eroded.

Resources:

• Upward Sports

• Filament Bible Collection

• Tyndale House Publishers

• “The Surprising Return of the Neighborhood Church” by Sam Rainer

• Get your FREE eBook, Deferred Maintenance

• The Everything Church Resource Directory

• The Hope Initiative

• Get your FREE tool! Attendance Growth Projector

Episode Sponsors:

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