Religious Life

“Confessional” churches receive more converts than “Missional” churches, and “Traditional” churches receive more converts than “Contemporary” services. Smaller LCMS churches in rural areas or small towns receive higher rates of converts than large urban or suburban congregations.

About 1/3 of converts into the LCMS experienced romantic attachments as a key element of their conversion, and an additional 1/3 were largely motivated by a search for community. A conviction that prior beliefs were wrong was only the primary influence on about 1 in 5 converts.

Lots of interesting stuff in the report. I was not at all surprised by the observations that most members are delusional about the attendance trends in their congregation.

I was having a conversation with a Lutheran bishop recently and he told me he suspects some synods would prefer the rural small town churches to struggle so closure can be justified. To this end, resources are intentionally directed to the suburban and urban congregations. This data indicates that is a misguided tactic.