While reports of denominational decline in America continue to dominate headlines, the rapid growth of non-denominational churches remains a significant yet underreported story. This shift represents a major transformation in the American religious landscape.
Two denominations that receive substantial attention are the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) and the United Methodist Church (UMC), historically the two largest Protestant bodies in the United States. The UMC has faced a steady decline for years, recently exacerbated by the departure of thousands of congregations. Projections suggest membership may drop 40 percent from its peak once the full impact of the disaffiliation movement is realized. Currently, UMC attendance in the U.S. has fallen from approximately 3 million to 2 million, with further decreases expected.
The Southern Baptist Convention has faced similar challenges, with membership falling from a peak of 16.2 million in 2006 to 13.2 million in 2022. Weekly attendance figures are even more striking, dropping from 6.2 million in 2009 to 3.8 million in 2022—a decline of nearly 40% in just 13 years. For those seeking quantitative research on churches, Ryan Burge provides excellent data at Graphs about Religion.
Non-Denominational Growth
According to Burge, 13 percent of total American adults now identify as non-denominational. That is more than all mainline denominations combined. It is also more than the two largest Protestant denominations (the SBC and the UMC) combined.
Burge notes that the “nons” is the second biggest story in American Christianity (The rise of the “nones” is the biggest story. ). While he reports the information from a statistical viewpoint, we at Church Answers are attempting to answer the “why” question. Why are non-denominational churches growing while most all denominations are declining? We see five possible answers to this question.
Five Reasons
We must be careful with our attempts to explain the growth of the non-denominational movement. First, our information is anecdotal rather than data based. Though our team at Church Answers interacts with thousands of church leaders and church members, we have not conducted a rigorous statistical study on this group.
Second, non-denominational churches are far from monolithic. They vary in worship style, doctrine, polity, and many other points. Those variables make analysis even more difficult. Nevertheless, we offer five reasons from our observations.
1. Non-denominational churches tend to be more evangelistic. For a number of possible reasons, these congregations are more intentional about reaching their communities with the gospel. We often see stark contrasts in the priority of evangelism between non-denominational churches and denominational churches.
2. Non-denominational churches typically invest more financially in reaching their communities. Though I could have combined the first two reasons, it is worth noting that the budget of a non-denominational church will often include a higher percentage of their funds used for local evangelism. Denominational church budgets usually allocate more funds for national denominational causes.
3. Non-denominational churches usually do not engage in issues of conflict to the level that denominational churches do. A church has only a finite amount of resources of time, money, and energy. The more that is expended on divisive issues, the less that can be expended on local outreach. We understand that many of these issues are gospel-centric and must be discussed and debated. Sadly, though, the resources spent on these issues often come at the expense of those priorities with a Great Commission focus.
4. Non-denominational churches do not carry the “name” baggage that a denominational church might carry. I think this issue can be overstated. A church with “Baptist” or “Methodist” or “Presbyterian” in its name can still be effective and can still grow. It is hard to know how many unchurched people decide not to visit a denominational church because of its name. Admittedly, though, if it’s a small percentage of the unchurched who make such a decision, that small percentage can have a big negative impact.
5. Non-denominational churches tend to be newer churches that grow faster than older churches. I hope our team can pursue a statistically valid study of the age of churches in America. I think it will confirm our anecdotal observations. The rapid growth of the non-denominational movement is a relatively recent phenomenon. That means many of the non-denominational churches are newer. These newer churches tend to focus more on local growth and evangelism.
We will continue to explore the fascinating topic on the “nons,” including the research of Burge. But I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Let me hear from you.
This article originally appeared on ChurchAnswers.com and is reposted here by permission.