Attracting younger generations to the local church: Deep roots, selective seeds, and preparing a new soil

2018-01-19Churches across the United States are experiencing declining attendance, particularly attendees from younger generational cohorts. This study examined literature to identify influencers that have led to reduced attendance at churches, and applied a framework developed by Clark and Estes (2008) to develop a research study that may be useful to churches experiencing declining attendance. This framework aims to identify what gaps in knowledge, motivation, and organization exist in a context, and identifies opportunities to improve performance such that an organization can meet its goals. Utilizing this framework, the study conducted an inquiry into a rural church that was experiencing similar issues of declining attendance with the goal of helping the church meet its organizational goal of increasing attendance. The study found barriers that exist, and assets that are needed in all three dimensions of the KMO framework, particularly in gaps of knowledge relating to biblical interpretation, how to attract new attendees, motivation driven by why younger generations are not attending church, and organizational influencers that relate to existing cultural models and settings. Findings of the study are limited to this specific context; however, they are consistent with the findings revealed in the literature review. As such, the project recommends a treatment of certain trainings and experiences that research has shown to improve knowledge, motivation, and organizational support such that the organization can meet its goal