Membership level at which a church/Church closes

[thomon16]

Has anyone read or seen a research study showing the lowest membership level at which a Catholic or Protestant church or denomination can reach before it must close because it cannot survive?

 

[Sam_777]

membership level , I never heard that before!!!, is that in non-Catholic churches only?

 

[thomon16]

Catholic parishes and Protestant congregations and denominations. Sociologists and demographers seem to do all kinds of studies, and I wondered if anyone saw or read studies on this subject. There must be a minimum membership level below which survival as a local church or national denomination is at risk.

 

[GaryTaylor]

Don’t know about closing numbers. What I have seen the CC do is run different 1/2 hour time slots and place a church with a lower attendance level in a more appealing time slot to help attendance.

I have heard of them closing but I haven’t seen it in this area. So I imagine once they get around the red/black area of paying mthly bills the attention to detail becomes much more in focus. From there I believe its a matter of how the surrounding Churchs can help if in fact there are surrounding churchs. So there’s a senerio for the perfect storm without a doubt. The area congregations here pretty much work together all the way around the board.

There are 7 Catholic Churchs within a 10-mile radius here. The Catholic grammer schools I see are more stressed here and theres more of an need and effort to help them now than say 40-years ago. But I also see a change for the better in particular the last 5-years. I also see a slight attendance variance in ethnic areas of the Catholic Church. I see the Italian/Polish American Catholic Churchs doing pretty well and pretty consistant. Other areas not as good but certainly not hopeless. What you see in other countries like Italy or Poland for a following of the faith is indicative of what you’ll see stateside. Again IMO this is a on-going process of the USA to fully convert to Christianity. Its a work in progress. The country took 5-steps forward then one back. From the 60’s to about 2005 America chose to abandon Christ to a large degree. And as you see you reap what you sow, its a simple fact of life. This is a young country at 250-years old. Theres much growing to take place here. Fortunately God hasn’t put it to the test yet and has allowed a grace period. Had it been truly tested it only could have worked two ways, christianity would be embraced or chaos will rule. And I’m not sure what would have happened here, I’d like to think my fellow americans would have seen truth in the face of turmoil and conflict, but you never know.

 

[Sam_777]

I have heard of them closing but I haven’t seen it in this area. So I imagine once they get around the red/black area of paying mthly bills the attention to detail becomes much more in focus.

You mean “monthly bills” as utility bills (electricity, water, etc) or something else

 

[thomon16]

Thanks for your observations. I was particularly interested in your comment:

I see the Italian/Polish American Catholic Churchs doing pretty well and pretty consistant.

That has not been my experience. Ethnic parishes in the inner city have been the first churches targeted for closing because their members moved to the suburbs and joined territorial parishes. The remaining members are too few in number to sustain an active parish.

But what is that minimum number of parishioners necessary to survive? I know that it depends on the circumstances, but what have research studies shown?

 

[Vincent1984]

Has anyone read or seen a research study showing the lowest membership level at which a Catholic or Protestant church or denomination can reach before it must close because it cannot survive?

You’re from Ohio – are you in the Diocese of Cleveland, and worried about your home parish?

I’m not aware of any studies on that question, because (as far as I can see) the number of parishoners attending Mass isn’t the deciding factor on sustainability. Parishes which would be closed down in some US dioceses for being too small, would be medium-large in UK or Ireland by Sunday Mass attendance. A parish may be one of the smallest in the diocese and therefore be a earmarked for closure when there aren’t enough pastors to go around, but it’s not that there are objectively too few parishoners; it a lack of priests leading to otherwise-healthy parishes being merged or conglomerated.

I do feel instinctively that there is a minimum healthy size for a parish, of perhaps a couple of hundred active parishoners, becuase below that it can be difficult to get a ‘critical mass’ of people, for a youth group or choir &c. On the other hand, an FSSP (traditional) priest I know says that they can’t cope with more than 200 people per priest, because they tend to attract very active Catholics who want to see their priests a lot.

 

[KathleenGee]

My former diocese of Seattle has had a good increase in Catholic population but the seculars are putting up hurdles from building new parishes.

I have seen inner parishes go down, but then start to come back up. Usually the poor ones are where you can experience deep spirituality, grace, and humility.

Sometimes more grace can come into the world through small, poor parishes than more affluent ones.

Sam, paying light and water bills can be an issue for my more affluent parish…it is growing very much, but the economy is affecting everyone…we need a bigger building as well…but God will get us through one step at a time.

 

[Hesychios]

…

But what is that minimum number of parishioners necessary to survive? I know that it depends on the circumstances, but what have research studies shown?

I don’t know of the studies, I haven’t been reading the literature but I’d like to comment.

I did read some years ago that a parish needs to add 6% membership per year to sustain itself in ‘maintenance’ mode. There is are a lot of reasons for that but basically it is required to make up for the dying and those who move away. Anything less will slip into ‘life support’ eventually, requiring outside intervention or radical changes when the financial reserves run out.

One cannot make any assumptions when it comes to the Catholic church, because there are too many factors and it is up to the bishop. In the USA as well as some other places the church enjoys a rare legal privilege called “corporation sole”, a legal arrangement where it takes only one person to be a corporation, that corporation ‘owns’ everything and the sole stockholder, chairman and board of directors is the bishop.

In a large diocese there are usually many parishes that consistently run a deficit, but often the bishop will subsidize them (all parishes are ‘his’ after all, after God’s that is ). In Chicago the bishop some time ago instituted the concept of “sharing parishes” as a way of making this work which involved the membership in a type of stewardship which they were well aware of. The older declining parish (usually in an area on hard times) is paired up as a sister parish with a prosperous suburban one, and they engage in revenue sharing, as well as the possibility of social functions and charitable work.

With regard to closures, ultimately it comes down to practical decisions, this is where the bishop has to use his management skills. The resources have to be allocated in the most prudent and judicious way. For example, if there are 21 priests retiring and only six new candidates to be ordained, there is going to be a lot of shifting around. If the chancery can’t make it work where all the parishes can be adequately staffed some parishes will be merged as a practical matter, and some property might be sold (even if the parish has enough membership to sustain it financially). When it happens that a diocese has several bad off parishes, the bishop might close some of them but not all of them, preferring to subsidize at least a portion to keep a presence in every significant neighborhood. The important thing is to make sure, as best as possible, that the faithful are served in their critical spiritual needs. It demands generosity from the more fortunate.

I have seen a case where it was alleged that some of several declining parishes were chosen to be closed simply because the property would bring more money into the diocesan coffers.

In the case where a congregation owns it’s own property (often the case in Protestant churches, some Orthodox parishes and rarely in Roman Catholic parishes in the USA) the decision to close would be influenced by the size of the obligations facing the community, and their ability to pay. Obviously if it is a storefront rental with rate increases coming that is completely different from a grand old edifice with a leaky roof and rotting floorboards.

Some small congregations can stay vibrant if the pastor is willing and able to carry on a job outside of the parish. Volunteerism helps a lot, but if the community is mostly older pensioners they might not be able to do much.

I have seen eastern Catholic and Orthodox healthy parishes with less than 150 souls in regular attendance, and missions with less than fifty. But usually the membership on the books is much greater, a phantom figure including many who have passed through but no longer actually show up.

 

[Phemie]

I don’t know about closing, but I remember the ‘Catholic Community’ I belonged to in one city would not be considered for parish status with fewer than 200 families. It was a language-based Community, with a chaplain, in an area with many parishes. Our members drove as much as 40 minutes to attend Mass in French, but the diocese wouldn’t consider erecting a parish that couldn’t sustain itself and 200 families was the magic number. When I left we had only ~50 families.

 

[4Squarebaby]

Has anyone read or seen a research study showing the lowest membership level at which a Catholic or Protestant church or denomination can reach before it must close because it cannot survive?

On the denominational level it is almost by definition there is no population level beyond there being nobody following a leadership team besides a single church which splits upon the retirement or death of those leaders. On the local church level it is a matter of being able to pay the bills and will a core group continue as a home or storefront church or will its members split and join larger churches.

 

[cooterhein]

Missionaries will sometimes go to completely unreached areas and try to start a church. In those situations, it’s not uncommon for a “church” to consist of the missionary family and no one else for an indefinite period of time- sometimes years. It depends on where you are, of course. Even if you don’t have to wait that long for the first conversion or two, it will sometimes exist as a very small group of people that meets without a church building for a number of years. It’s also not uncommon for several house churches to gather in different locations for any number of years before everyone can start getting together in a church building. And then in some parts of the world, that has to continue indefinitely because that country doesn’t allow Christian church buildings to exist, or perhaps restricts them to churches that agree to limitations and regulation by that government.

So in Protestant churches, no, there isn’t really a lower limit. Unless something like “two or three” counts as such.

 

[catsrus]

A lutheran church I attended many years ago, when I was lutheran, has closed. It’s in “the city” and the strong membership of 40 years ago has fled to the suburbs as the city deteriorated. There were 8 members left, as I understand, and the building could no longer be sustained. Shame. It really was a lovely church. I hear there’s a daycare center there now.
My inner city Catholic church merged with a Hispanic community to sustain itself. The BLDG dates to 1856 and has the extremly high cathedral ceilings making it a bear to heat.
I think with fewer and fewer committed Christians you will see more and more mergings and closings of church buildings.

 

[Publisher]

From my experience, when a meeting or congregation can no longer sustain themselves financially OR the “Mission Center” of that particular organization can no longer sustatin financial support, the meeting or congregation is closed…OR the property is sold and the meeting or congregation if they wish to continue, finds less expenisve accommodations.

I have attended some congregations that had 4-10 adults and 6-10 children…they remained open as a “mission center” receiving support from denominational headquarters through their repsective “Mission” organization.

One particular Nazarene church I attended as a child had the pastor, board of trustees and stewards, and a couple teachers…they sold their historic building and built a small building that served them quite well as they began to grow…they added wings as they outgrew their building…they are quite a large congregation now…200-300 in attendance now after 30 years of solid growth. They have over 500 “members”…but half never attend on a regular basis.

 

[puzzleannie]

Has anyone read or seen a research study showing the lowest membership level at which a Catholic or Protestant church or denomination can reach before it must close because it cannot survive?

for the Catholic Church, the bishop of the local diocese takes into account not only the number of registered, contributing, active parishioners, but the needs of the surrounding area, the number of Catholics still residing within the boundaries, relative health of neighoring parishes, and the needs of the entire diocese before he decides to close a parish, or to merge it with another parish. Age and condition of the physical plant, and cost to restore and maintain is also of course a huge factor. Bishop Lennon first in Boston, now in Cleveland had professionals study all the parishes of the diocese first, published the findings, came up with a list of potential closures or mergers, and gave each parish an extensive time span to show cause why they should remain open. Many parishes declined to participate and then protested when the closing date came.

I would assume for any other congregation, particularly a “stand alone” local church that is not governed by some hierarchical structure, simply votes and when they see they cannot support the buildings and the ministries they are forced to close or join other congregations.

the Pew studies do such research on all churches, and Georgetown university does such research on Catholic church membership. that would be a place to look for statistical information.

 

[Lutheranteach]

I visited a Lutheran Church I don’t usually attend this past weekend. There were 21 people at the service. The church’s finances are sound as the members are all older people who support it very well. But, I am sure this church will close in the next few years just from attrition.

 

[Alix1912]

I imagine there isn’t a magic number of people at which a church closes. It probaly has more to do with money. If there aren’t enough offerings and donations coming in to pay the mortgage, utilities, and salaries of the employees they church closes. I don’t know how this works in the Catholic Church, but I imagine it is similar. When a parish becomes to small to be economically sustainable it is merged with another parrish.

 

[jblake]

the lowest membership level at which a Catholic or Protestant church or denomination can reach before it must close because it cannot survive?

Crystal Cathedral, with an estimated 1,000,000 TV audience, filed for bankruptcy. As such, it faces the possibility of closing, because it can not survive financially.

There is no magic size, beyond which a congregation is guaranteed to not run into financial issues.

In the UK, the average attendance at a Sunday Morning worship service is 84.
In the UK, the average congregation size is less than 140.
In Australia, the average attendance at a Sunday Morning worship service is 142.
In the US, the median attendance at a Sunday Morning worship service is 75.
In the US, the mean attendance at a Sunday Morning worship service is 186.

For most denominations, a congregation size of less than twenty-five, will cause the congregation to be removed from the rolls of the denomination.

Other data suggests:

• The majority of the 170,000 people who convert to Christianity each day, join a house church whose congregation consists of less than forty people;
• Congregations that were established more than a decade ago will lose between five and ten percent of their congregation each year;
• At a congregation size of 100 people, growth is from church shopping, not conversion of non-Christians;
• For a congregation that is more than five years old, dividing the congregation size by seven will give the maximum number of people that will join the congregation that year;
• In the US, 1,000,000 people leave the church each year;

IOW, a lack of new converts will result in the church doors being permanently closed;

Still:

• Between 3,000 and 4,000 churches in the US close their door every year;
• Roughly 1,000 new congregations are started in the US each year;

However, just because your congregation is financially sound, and converting non-Christians to Christianity (converts from Protestant Christianity to Catholic Christianity to not count — that is mere church shopping) , that does not mean it is out of the water.

The “trouble numbers” are:

• 12;
• 50-65;
• 120-150;
• 200-250;
• 500-600;
• 1,200-1,500;
• 5,000;

I won’t go into group theory here, and explain how and why those numbers are significant. However, if either the number of parishioners, or average Sunday Morning Worship Service is close to those numbers, start paying very close attention to the rumour/gossip mill. That way you won’t be taken by surprise when trouble erupts, and threatens to split the church, if not close it completely.

jonathon

 

[Mikeoffaith]

I have to check but I think in our congregation’s constitution it provides that three members are like the minimum.

 

[Oldtimer_7]

My old pastor has one church in his current call that has eight members and meets monthly. Some friends were looking at churches when they moved into the area. One church they attended had eight members, all women over 65, who advised them to find another larger congregation, but the church was in no danger of closing, because the women could afford to keep it going. Just around the corner, a Methodist congregation 140 years old closed with 12 members. In doing the church history, the pastor found that last outreach done by the church was to give someone a Christmas turkey in the 60’s. The congregation had insisted on silver offering plates and in the last year, there were several occasions where they came to the altar empty. What this pastor noted was that there were many, many books telling how to grow a congregation, but none on how to shut one down. I am not sure that she is still in the ministry.

Jblake, could you give the source for your statistics? I would like to share them with our church council. Thanks in advance.