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Research group says one in five churches may close in next 18 months

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A Christian research organization has said that one in five churches could close permanently because of COVID-19 shutdowns, the Christian Post reports. According to David Kinnaman, president of the Barna research organization, many churches have seen far fewer people attending since loosened lockdowns, compared to pre-pandemic attendance.

Speaking to NPR on Monday Kinnaman said that, in keeping with trends from earlier this year, he expects one in five churches to close permanently within 18 months. “If anything, I think that prediction was based on data about two, two-and-a-half months ago, and I think we’re even more likely to see that to be the case today,” Kinnaman said.

Discussing why certain churches have significantly reduced attendance, Kinnaman explained: “[Congregants are] recognizing that the relationships that they thought were much deeper with people were actually not as deep as they expected.”

In addition, Kinnanman said, there were economic problems that came with reduced attendance. “The disruptions related to giving, and maybe even as important to all that, is that even for those churches that have reopened, they’re seeing much smaller numbers of people show up. So simply reopening a church doesn’t fix the underlying economic challenges that you might have,” he noted.

According to Kinnaman, the pandemic will fundamentally change the way Americans do church, including giving. “There’ll have to be even greater demonstration of the value that a church brings not just to those who attend but also those who are part of this community,” Kinnaman said. “There will be a lot more online attendance than ever before, even after all churches reopen. I think this digital church is here to stay.”