I came across some interesting church stats from the Christian Evangelizing Association of Kansas. Unfortunately, the news isn't all good, especially in regard to the non-evangelical Christian groups.
Although 45% of Americans claim to go to church every Sunday, the reality is far less. People over-report church attendance because they want to be perceived well. But if actual attendance numbers are used the figure is something more like 20% or less nationwide. This is disappointing but presents an opportunity for evangelism.
In Kansas, approx. 23% of people attend church any given weekend, down 8% from 1990 to 2000. This, combined with a dramatic loss in mainline and catholic churches, paints a dismal picture for Christianity in Kansas. But not everything is bad news…
The only group that saw a net gain in number of churches and attendance was evangelical churches. Conservative, Bible-based churches are growing when other religious groups are losing membership and closing their doors. Groups like the CEA of Kansas promote church planting and cooperation between churches and good work is being done.
At the last census, Kansas worship attendances broke down like this.
Catholic 29%
Christian* 15%
Methodist 14%
Other 14%
Baptist 12%
Lutheran 7%
Pentecostal 5%
Reformed 4%
*Christian probably includes both the mainline, theologically-liberal Disciples of Christ as well as the conservative Churches of Christ and Christian Churches (like Wyandotte).
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