What do brunch reservations and NFL kickoffs have in common? They’re more sacred to most Americans than Sunday worship. As curated comforts multiply, church attendance declines — not because faith is obsolete, but because habitual attendance alone no longer fills the pews. In a world of endless alternatives, the Church must offer more than convenience. It must offer Christ.
In 2006, economists Jonathan Gruber and Daniel M. Hungerman found that repealing Sunday commerce restrictions was linked to a significant decline in church attendance and giving. Nearly two decades later, the trend has worsened. Weekly church attendance has dropped to 20%, and mainline denominations such as the Presbyterian Church (USA) are shrinking rapidly. As Americans are offered more secular alternatives, churches face a defining question: Will Sunday be shaped by Christ or by culture?
The decline of church attendance doesn’t necessarily mean faith is disappearing. But it does suggest that churches are no longer offering something unique that Christians can only find in the pews on a Sunday. As long as denominations trade biblical clarity and teaching for cultural conformity, committed Christians and searchers alike will look elsewhere for clarity, depth and spiritual integrity. It’s time for churches to stop chasing relevance and start claiming reverence — to offer conviction, covenant, and the Gospel’s unchanging truth.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know.
This isn’t just a modern story. The weakening of the Church through distraction and compromise is a pattern that spans centuries. Four centuries ago, Puritans lamented the trade of Sabbath worship for worldly amusement. From holy day sports in 17th-century England to NFL Sundays, the tension between cultural convenience and covenantal commitment has long existed. Throughout history, churches have diluted their theology to gain approval or avoid conflict. The 20th-century seeker-sensitive movement prioritized accessibility over clarity — drawing crowds but rarely disciples.
Today, the list of alternative ways to spend your Sunday is longer than ever. Why wake up for church when you can stream a mindfulness podcast, light your favorite Anthropologie candle, and sink into a $37,600 couch? People can curate their ideal Sunday: comfort, inspiration, even faux spirituality — all from home.
While this freedom to choose is good and necessary, many churches responded to dwindling attendance by offering a weaker version of what the world already provides. Ambient lighting replaced liturgy. Therapeutic slogans replaced Scripture. They forgot that the call was not to comfort, but to carry a cross.
The results are stark. The Presbyterian Church (USA), once a major denomination, has just over 1 million members in 2024. In the last year alone, it lost 150,000 active members and closed more than 140 congregations. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has dropped from 5 million baptized members in 2003 to 2.79 million today. Meanwhile, the United Methodist Church is undergoing one of the largest denominational fractures in modern history, with over 7,600 churches disaffiliating between 2019 and 2023, primarily over departures from biblical teaching on sex, marriage, and authority.
Some argue that churches must adapt or die — that loosening theological boundaries is the only path of survival in a modern, pluralistic age. But the data points in the opposite direction. A peer-reviewed study published in the Review of Religious Research found that conservative Protestant churches are more likely to grow than liberal ones — largely because of doctrinal clarity and belief in the Bible’s authority. Theological orthodoxy is not alienating; it is what sustains Christians’ faith.
And it’s not just theory. Churches that preach the unchanging truth of the Scripture are seeing sustained growth and resilience. Grace Community Church has remained firm in its theology and has not suffered the decline common among more progressive peers. This trend isn’t just limited to Protestantism. Traditional Latin Mass communities within the Catholic Church, though a minority, are growing — especially among younger Catholics. In a fragmented and relativistic age, people are gravitating to churches that offer clarity, conviction, and Christ.
When churches reject Scripture to gain cultural approval, they lose both their purpose and their people. But then they hold fast to the truth — even when it’s unpopular — churches see more success in their ministry.
We are right to grieve the decline in church attendance. While numbers aren’t everything, they often reflect a deeper loss. When entire congregations dissolve, it’s not just a building that closes. It can mean that lives are drifting from the truth, that communities lose spiritual anchors, and that generations grow up unrooted from the Gospel. That should sober us.
It should also encourage us to look more closely at the reasons behind this spiritual crisis. Many aren’t abandoning Christ — they’re seeking Him more earnestly. When churches compromise, people move. And increasingly, they’re moving toward communities that preach biblical truth.
People don’t need another worldly institution, vague spirituality, or packaged self-help; they need Christ. You can’t out-comfort the couch. And the Church shouldn’t try. Its power lies not in relevance, but in the unchanging Christ.
Anna Mays is a Young Voices contributor and economics graduate from Grove City College. She writes on the intersection of economics, culture, and faith.
