c. 2006 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) The leading cause of declining church membership isn’t heresy, poor leadership, conflict or inadequate facilities. It’s mobility.

The same is true on the upside. Churches grow when they respond effectively to geographic mobility and help the new wanderers find a church home.

Those who cite church statistics in waging doctrinal and control battles tend to blame shrinking membership on factors like gay clergy and creeping modernism. While controversy does play a small part, the gorilla in the room is a moving van.

An estimated 15 percent of Americans move each year, especially during summer months, when congregations tend to be coasting.

Of the 40 million Americans who move each year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the highest rate is among young adults _ some 30 percent changing locations each year. That means hard work for congregations that want to reach young adults.

More than half of moves take place within the same county, especially among renters and racial minorities _ constituencies that many inner-city and near-suburban churches are trying to reach. Well-to-do whites move least often, but even their rate is 10 percent. Their moves tend to be long-distance and disruptive to church participation, and therefore a hit to church leadership and financial systems.

Reasons for moving paint a complicated picture for churches. An estimated 51 percent of moves occur for housing-related reasons, two-thirds of those in upward-mobility situations like a new or better residence. Sixty years of postwar mobility suggest that few relocated churchgoers will continue to commute back to the old neighborhood for worship.

More than 26 percent of moves occur after a change in the family system, like divorce, which means a double dose of disruption.

Mobility is awkward for those moving. For those who had happy church homes, it is a time of loss and grieving, which no one in the new neighborhood or town wants to hear. For the disgruntled, it is an escape, maybe a time to try a new denomination. For the young, it is freedom from parental expectations. For the marginally involved, relocation might be a time to drift away.

Mobility is awkward for congregations, too. Churches tend to be run by the long-tenured, who might not perceive newcomers or their mobility stresses. Regular church workers are ready for a summer break, and clergy are taking vacations _ at precisely the time when the newly mobile are visiting, examining, sampling and looking for vitality.

What to do? For one thing, a church that isn’t working hard at membership development will wither away. A 1,000-member congregation needs to add 150 members a year just to keep pace with mobility, not to mention those who die, lose interest, burn out or get angry. This means knowing who’s new in a community, having newcomer-sensitive entry points like church school and youth ministries, and visiting new neighbors. It means effective strategies for greeting visitors and incorporating them into the congregation.

In my opinion, a growth-oriented congregation won’t shut down for the summer. They can change programs, perhaps, but they need to recognize that church-shoppers expect to see “merchandise on display,” not “empty shelves.” Some churches, in fact, offer more in the summer, not less.

Vacationing clergy should avoid a “warm body” approach to finding substitutes, but plan something special, such as a teaching series or a high-profile guest preacher. Greeting ministries need to be in high gear. So do farewell ministries that encourage the departing to seek their next church home, as well as pastoral ministries that target the doldrums, child-care needs and financial stresses that are common during summer. Churches in retirement areas should be especially sensitive to church pillars needing a new home.

KRE/PH END EHRICH

(Tom Ehrich is a writer, consultant and leader of workshops. His book, “Just Wondering, Jesus: 100 Questions People Want to Ask,” was published by Morehouse Publishing. An Episcopal priest, he lives in Durham, N.C. His Web site is http://www.onajourney.org)

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