Academic Dean Scott Thumma Quoted in Article about Congregational Vitality

An article on the Association of Religion Data Archives’ website quotes Academic Dean Scott Thumma and cites the Faith Communities Today research conducted by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research.

Lessons from Amazon: Being Open to Change Can Spur Congregational Vitality, Growth talks about the phenomenon of more people choosing fewer, large churches to attend.

But instead of replicating what the larger churches offer — multiple weekend services, different worship styles and multiple sites — many churches have cut back on these options, according to Faith Communities Today research.

So what, the article asks, can be done?

“First, smaller churches should not be discouraged into inaction,” Dean Thumma said.

The articles states, “Congregations of all sizes can also make major changes, such as adding a contemporary service or a new program that would be attractive to people in their community. For example, the 2005 Faith Communities Today survey found about a quarter of all multi-site churches were congregations with fewer than 100 attendees.”