Our research into church health shows that when attenders are open to innovation, it is positively linked with both numerical church growth and attracting newcomers.
So, how do church attenders rate their local church in its openness to new initiatives? Around two thirds of churchgoers say their church is always ready to try something new. However, differences emerge between age groups and those with a leadership role.
From our research we know that when local churches are open to trying new things, they tend to grow. Churches that rate highly in being ready to try something new are also likely to have newcomers and strong growth in attendance.
Churchgoer views on their church’s openness to innovation
In 2021 and 2022, how did church attenders evaluate the openness of their local church to new initiatives? Of course, at the time of the survey churches were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Around two thirds (68%) of church attenders agreed that “This local church is always ready to try something new”. Some 22% strongly agreed and 46% agreed with this statement.
Age differences: Youngest and oldest attenders were slightly less confident than those in their middle years that their local church is always ready to try something new. One in ten (10%) of those under 30 years disagreed that their churches were open to something new. (See Figure 2).
Leadership roles: Those with leadership roles were also less likely to strongly agree (19%) about the openness of their local church to new initiatives than those with no leadership role (26%).
Photo credit: Grace City Church, Sydney
