When speaking with Christian parents, I often sense a quiet anxiety about the faith journey their children might take. Many of them, especially those who are very active members of an evangelical congregation, worry that they might do or say something that causes their children to abandon their Christian faith and join the growing number of people who identify with no religion. I believe they are concerned, of course, about the eternal souls of their children, but they also worry about the social scorn they could face from other parents once it becomes known that their children “fell away” from the church. 

There are notable examples that highlight this concern. Tony Campolo, a sociologist, was renowned for his passionate sermons about God’s grace and the importance of forgiveness. However, one of his sons, Bart, became a prominent secular humanist as an adult. Similarly, John Piper’s son Abraham gained a significant

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Every Church Has a Number—But Most Don’t Know It

In this first installment, I want to talk about a number that quietly influences nearly every aspect of church life—budgets, staffing, outreach, missions, and even the long-term health of the congregation. It’s called Weekly Per Capita Giving, or WPCG. In its simplest form, WPCG is the giving of the church per attendee each week. Most churches have never calculated this number, yet it can be one of the clearest windows into financial health and stewardship habits.

Over the years, I’ve seen churches of every size use this number as a reality check. It helps pastors set realistic budgets, plan for future ministry, and assess whether their financial patterns are healthy or drifting. In this article, I’ll argue that the median WPCG across most churches is about $35.00, a number that aligns with our consultation work. While national research reports a slightly higher figure, understanding why those numbers differ can give leaders both insight and hope.

The Weekly Per Capita Giving (WPCG) Tells a Big Story in a Small Number

WPCG might sound like just another financial metric, but it tells a surprisingly big story in a very small number. It’s calculated by taking a church’s total giving for the year, dividing it by the average weekly attendance, and then dividing that result by 52 weeks. For example, if a church receives $182,000 in total gifts in a year and averages 100 people in attendance, the WPCG is $35.00. That means the average attender gives $35.00 per week to the church. It’s a simple calculation, but it packs a lot of meaning.

It’s important to note that the attendance number includes everyone—children, youth, and adults—not just those who give. This makes the WPCG a conservative measure, but that’s actually one of its strengths. It shows what the church is receiving per person present, regardless of age or ability to give. It reflects the full community the church is serving each week.

This number helps churches move beyond guesswork. It reveals how engaged people are financially and how realistic your budget may be. It also levels the playing field. A church of 75 people with a WPCG of $40.00 may be just as financially healthy as a church of 750 people with a similar number. When you track WPCG over time, you start to see patterns—growth, decline, plateaus—that often mirror the church’s overall vitality.

In a world where many pastors feel overwhelmed by spreadsheets and financial statements, WPCG offers clarity. It doesn’t solve every problem, but it gives church leaders one solid number to monitor and evaluate regularly. And most importantly, it starts a conversation about stewardship that is grounded in reality.

Why WPCG Isn’t a Perfect Number

As helpful as WPCG is, it’s not without its flaws. Like any number, it has limits—and wise church leaders need to understand where it can fall short.

First, WPCG doesn’t account for the socioeconomic realities of your community. A church in a low-income neighborhood will naturally have a lower WPCG than one in an affluent suburb, even if both churches are equally healthy and faithful. Comparing your WPCG to another church across town—or across the country—can be misleading if you don’t consider the financial background of the people you’re reaching.

Second, WPCG can go up for the wrong reasons. If your attendance drops but giving stays the same, your WPCG will rise—but that doesn’t mean your church is thriving. In fact, it may be a warning sign that fewer people are carrying more of the financial load.

Third, a church can have a low WPCG if its attendees are disproportionately young (children and youth don’t give much), or if it has a number of new Christians. Those new believers often know nothing about biblical generosity and stewardship.

Finally, WPCG can be skewed by one or two large givers. If a single donor gives an unusually large gift, it will raise your WPCG temporarily, but that may not reflect your true financial health over time. This is why WPCG should be viewed as one helpful indicator—not the only one.

Used wisely, WPCG can offer insight. But it needs context, humility, and thoughtful interpretation.

National Research Estimates Are Higher—But That’s Not the Whole Story

Some national church surveys and ministry research organizations report average WPCG estimates in the range of $42 to $54 per person per week. These figures typically come from dividing total annual giving by total attendance (including all ages), and then by 52 weeks. However, it’s important to note that most of these averages are based on larger, well-resourced churches that often have full-time staff, strong financial systems, and long-established stewardship cultures.

More importantly, those averages represent the mean, not the median. And in charitable giving, where a few high-dollar churches can skew the data, the median is often more helpful. Unfortunately, the median WPCG is not usually published in national reports. That omission leaves many pastors wondering how their church compares to a typical congregation—not just the average across a spectrum that includes megachurches.

The difference matters because most churches in America are small. The median church has about 65 in weekly attendance, and many are located in modest communities with limited financial capacity. A national mean, while helpful as a benchmark, likely overstates what the majority of churches experience week to week.

Our Church Consultations Show a More Modest, Real-World Number: $35.00

While national surveys are incredibly valuable, our hands-on work with churches tells a slightly different story. Through our recent consultations at Church Answers, working with a few hundred congregations across a variety of regions and denominations, we’ve consistently seen that the median Weekly Per Capita Giving (WPCG) is about $35.00. This isn’t theoretical data—it’s drawn from actual church budgets, giving records, and attendance reports we review directly with leaders.

Why the difference? The churches we consult are often small to mid-sized, which represents the vast majority of congregations in North America. Many of them are located in rural areas, small towns, or economically diverse neighborhoods. These churches may not show up in national averages with the same weight, but their financial realities are no less important—and no less faithful.

The $35.00 figure reflects what’s happening in the everyday life of the typical church. It’s not an ideal or a benchmark to chase—it’s simply a real number that helps pastors and leaders make better decisions. For many, discovering their WPCG brings clarity, context, and a greater sense of stewardship for what God has already entrusted to them.

What Your Church Can Learn from Its Own WPCG

You don’t need a research team to learn something powerful—you just need to calculate your own church’s WPCG. Once you know that number, it can become one of the most helpful tools in your leadership toolbox. It gives you a realistic picture of your church’s financial foundation, and it can guide your decisions without relying on guesswork or comparisons to churches in very different situations.

Start with a simple formula: take your total giving from the past 12 months, divide it by your average weekly worship attendance (including children and youth), and then divide by 52. That’s your WPCG. If you’ve never done this before, the number might surprise you. Whether it’s higher or lower than the national average or our consultation median, the real value comes in tracking it over time.

WPCG can help you set a reasonable budget, spot unhealthy financial trends, or celebrate steady faithfulness. It can also alert you if a small number of givers are carrying too much of the load or if a decline in attendance is masking financial strain.

You don’t have to chase someone else’s number—but you should know your own. That one figure can provide insight, stability, and even hope for the road ahead.

Don’t Be Discouraged—Be Informed and Intentional

Learning your church’s WPCG isn’t about judgment—it’s about clarity. Whether your number is above $50.00, below $35.00, or somewhere in between, it doesn’t define your faithfulness or effectiveness. Every church has a unique story, shaped by its people, community, and calling.

The goal isn’t to hit a certain number—it’s to understand where you are and lead wisely from there. A low WPCG isn’t a failure; it might reflect a young congregation, a struggling community, or a season of transition. A high WPCG doesn’t mean you can relax; it might be propped up by a few generous givers or declining attendance. Either way, the number is a tool, not a verdict.

Use it to start healthy conversations, shape thoughtful stewardship strategies, and plan your ministry with insight. WPCG won’t tell you everything, but it can point you in the right direction.

In the end, it’s not about the number—it’s about the people behind it, and the ministry ahead of you. Knowing your church’s WPCG simply helps you serve them better. And that’s something worth measuring.

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We’ve encountered some strange reasons for church conflict. 

• • There was the time a church fought over the appropriate length of the pastor’s beard.
  • Or the case of a church fighting over whether to build a children’s playground or to use the land for a cemetery.
  • We witnessed a conflict over people leading worship with their eyes closed during a portion of the song. 
  • One church held two business meetings to determine which weed-eater to purchase. 
  • Lastly, a church had a 70% affirmative vote to excommunicate a deacon who threatened to kill the pastor. The running joke was, “Thirty percent of this congregation wants the pastor dead.”

Some of these examples may seem petty. Well, they are. And all of them could have been avoided. Just about every church has multiple examples of fights over inconsequential matters. What leads to this point? The problem is too pervasive to ignore. 

Conflict over trivial matters, especially in churches, usually isn’t really about the trivial matter at all. I took a deep dive into hundreds of our consultations and coaching relationships. Here is what I discovered.

The surface issue masks a deeper issue. When a church fights over what color the carpet should be, it’s rarely about the carpet. It’s often about control, influence, or feeling heard. The “small” issue becomes a safe battlefield to fight a “bigger” but unspoken issue.

Emotional over-investment in traditions. In churches, even small traditions—like a particular classroom arrangement, holiday programming, or decorations—can carry deep emotional meaning. Changing them feels like erasing history, dishonoring past generations, or disrupting personal identity. While people should not devote so much emotional energy to these things, they do. 

Low-trust environments amplify small problems. In a high-trust church, a minor disagreement can be handled with grace. In a low-trust environment, every decision is suspect, so even small changes are viewed through the lens of fear and skepticism.

The “last straw” phenomenon. A trivial issue sometimes becomes the breaking point after years of built-up frustration. People channel all their pent-up irritation into one minor conflict because it feels more manageable than addressing the deeper, messier problem.

Displaced conflict. Members may have personal frustrations (marriage, work stress, health issues) that they subconsciously displace onto church matters. The church becomes the arena where unrelated tension spills over. We see this a lot with people who are upset about progress in their professional careers. They can’t yell at their boss, so they take it out on their pastor.

Personal identity is intertwined with church identity. Churches are deeply tied to people’s sense of community and spiritual identity. Even small changes can feel like a threat to “who we are” as a church family, or “who I am” as a person, so people defend the status quo passionately.

Small matters are easier to argue about. Fighting over what to call small groups is easier than addressing gossip. Debating a budget line item is safer than confronting a broken relationship. Minor issues become proxy battles for bigger but harder conversations.

Every church will experience a fight over something trivial. The problem is not in an argument over carpet color, beard length, or weed-eater purchases. The danger lies in the erosion of trust that occurs when trivial disputes multiply over time and are left unresolved. How can the small stuff stay small? The health of a church is revealed not in the absence of disagreements, but in how those disagreements are handled with humility, grace, and a shared desire to glorify God above all else.

Satan doesn’t need big issues to divide a church—just small ones left unchecked.

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On the one hand, every Christian understands prayer is not only the means by which we communicate and draw near to our Heavenly Father, it’s also God’s prescribed means for change to happen. In that sense, there’s never a wrong time to pray. This is at least part of what James emphasized in his letter:

Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven (James 5:13-16). 

On the other hand, there are few things in our lives as Christians that create a greater sense of guilt. Despite knowing we should pray, we often do not. Or we don’t pray long enough. Or faithfully enough. Or fervently enough. Even though prayer is an incredible privilege, we often find ourselves feeling lacking.

How, then, can you as a church leader encourage the rhythm of prayer in your church this fall? 

Here are three immediately simple and actionable ways:

1. Model It.

What place does prayer have in your worship service? Often, we treat prayer as a “transition point” – it’s the way we move from one segment of the worship service to another without disruption. It’s the means by which the worship pastor can exit the stage and the pastor can get on. Or it’s the way the sermon ends and the worship service transitions back to musical worship. Nothing wrong with those various points of prayer, but in modeling it, it should be more.

Consider, at least for a season, devoting a significant amount of time to prayer in the worship experience. This might be an extended pastoral prayer, a time of congregational prayer, or a guided prayer led by someone on the stage.

2. Make Room for It.

In the small group environment, prayer is one of the things that often gets pushed to the end. Our group leaders focus on the content, the fellowship, and the discussion that make up the small group, and if there’s time, we have a prayer at the end to close things out.

The second actionable way to emphasize prayer is to filter a new vision for prayer through those leaders. To do that, they will have to see that prayer is a component of the small group that cannot get shoved to the side in favor of other things. The group leader, for example, might have a target time in mind for when to begin the prayer time during the group in order to make sure room is left for it to happen.

3. Align Around It.

One other way to bring emphasis to prayer is to align the congregation around it. This would mean preaching a sermon series about prayer, and then calling on small groups to have that same emphasis for a season. At Rooted Network, we wanted to make this last point as simple as possible.

That’s why we have created a sermon series outline about prayer you can download for free. This sermon series aligns with the Prayer Bible study for small groups. Using these tools, you can place a 5-week emphasis on prayer that runs from the stage to the individual inside every small group.

Corrie Ten Boom once wrote, “Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A man is powerful on his knees.” She was right. It’s not enough to intend to pray; we must commit to it and follow through. Like a muscle, the rhythm of prayer can be built into your congregation, but it won’t happen by accident.

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Trust is the foundation of every healthy church. Without it, unity crumbles, ministry slows, and relationships fracture. With it, your church will pursue God’s mission together.

How can we define trust in the context of ministry? Trust is the confident expectation that others will act with integrity, competence, and consistency, with the best interests of the church and its mission in mind.

Four Key Elements of Trust

Trust in ministry isn’t built on good intentions alone. It rests on a few essential qualities that leaders must embody. These qualities form the framework that allows people to follow with confidence and serve with joy. Without them, even the most compelling vision or strategy will struggle to gain lasting support.

1. 1. Character – Do you do what you say you’ll do? Are you honest and ethical?
   2. Competence – Are you capable and skilled for the ministry tasks entrusted to you?
   3. Consistency – Are you dependable over time, not just when things are going smoothly?
   4. Care – Are you genuinely concerned about the people you lead?

When one of these elements erodes, trust begins to falter. And while it may take years to build trust, it can be broken in a single careless moment.

The Cost of Low Trust in a Church

When trust erodes in a church, ministry begins to slow, and relationships start to strain. People grow cautious and second-guess motives. Over time, the energy that should be spent advancing the gospel gets diverted into protecting turf, managing conflict, and repairing fractured relationships.

Low-trust congregations tend to see:

• • Fear and self-preservation instead of openness and transparency.
  • Micromanagement and control instead of empowering ministry.
  • Gossip and blame-shifting instead of healthy conflict resolution.
  • Siloed ministries instead of collaborative teamwork.
  • Burnout and disengagement instead of joyful service.

Conversely, high-trust churches enjoy faster decision-making, more effective ministry, deeper relationships, and greater resilience in times of crisis.

10 Essential Questions for Church Leaders

These ten questions will help you assess and grow trust in your ministry. They are written in the first person, so you can ask them of yourself and have others on your leadership team do the same.

1. 1. Do I consistently follow through on what I say I’ll do, even in the small things? Reliability in small matters lays the groundwork for credibility in larger ones.
   2. Do others see me as competent and prepared for my ministry responsibilities? Spiritual passion must be matched with skillful stewardship.
   3. Am I steady and dependable, even under pressure or in conflict? Consistency builds confidence; volatility erodes it.
   4. Do I genuinely care for the people I lead, not just the ministry tasks they perform? People trust shepherds who love them as individuals, not just as volunteers.
   5. When trust is broken, am I quick to own my part and make it right? Humility and repentance are powerful trust-rebuilders.
   6. Do I communicate openly and clearly, or do I leave people guessing? Clear communication prevents confusion, suspicion, and division.
   7. Am I someone who listens actively and values the perspectives of others? Listening signals respect and makes people feel heard.
   8. When conflict arises, do I handle it directly and respectfully, or do I avoid it? Avoidance leaves wounds festering; honest resolution fosters healing.
   9. Do I give credit where it’s due and celebrate others’ contributions? Gratitude strengthens loyalty and morale.
   10. Do I create a safe environment where people can speak openly and take risks? Emotional safety encourages creativity, honest feedback, and vulnerability.

Trust Is a Daily Investment

Trust is not a one-time achievement but a daily investment. Every interaction is either a deposit or a withdrawal in the “trust bank” of your church. When you lead with character, competence, consistency, and care, you not only strengthen relationships, you also strengthen the witness of your church to a watching world. Trust builds unity, unity fuels mission, and mission changes lives.

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And here is what I keep noticing. These students are carrying an enormous weight. Anxiety and depression are climbing. Schedules are overflowing. There is pressure to make the grade, to earn the scholarship, to perform on the field, and to keep up socially. All of this comes at a stage of life when they are still figuring out who they are and what they are made for.

As parents, mentors, and church leaders, we want to set them up for success. We push them to work hard, to get involved, and to be responsible. None of these are bad things, but sometimes in our good intentions we end up modeling the exact opposite of what we actually desire for them. Instead of helping them run after the Kingdom of God, we accidentally teach them to chase after status, money, and achievement. We pile on more activities or more expectations and send the subtle message that their worth is measured by what they do, but what our kids desperately need is not more pressure, but a steady and faithful voice to realign back to who God made them to be. They need us to remind them that their value is not attached to performance, productivity, or perfection.

So how do we actually lead them toward this truth? I want to share three reminders that have shaped the way I think about raising and leading the next generation.

1. Recognize the Messages They Are Absorbing

Before we rush in with solutions, we need to pause and recognize what students are actually hearing. Many teenagers I talk with say they feel like all adults see is what they are not doing right. They are criticized for being addicted to technology. They are told they are disengaged or distracted. They are warned that they will not make it if they do not achieve more or work harder.

What this does is reinforce a sense that they are always falling short. Instead of hearing that they are seen and valued, they walk away with the belief that they are a disappointment. When our tone consistently focuses on what is wrong, we fail to communicate what is true about them. The truth is they are image bearers of God. They have been entrusted with gifts, talents, and potential that God himself has designed. If all they hear is negative messaging, they will begin to believe their lives are defined by their failures instead of God’s grace.

As leaders and parents we need to be honest about the real challenges of this generation, but we also need to be intentional about calling out their strengths, ingenuity, and that they can tackle hard challenges.

2. Help Them See Who They Are

One of the greatest gifts we can give the next generation is a clear vision of who they are in Christ. Every student, whether they know it or not, is longing for belonging and identity. They want to know they are loved, they aren’t alone, and that their lives matter.

This means we have to help them slow down enough to notice how God has uniquely wired them. Yes, they have strengths and talents, but they also have weaknesses and struggles. And both matter. In fact, it is often in their weakness that they will most clearly see God’s power and grace.

It is wise for us to acknowledge for them that they likely won’t be good at every subject. School is designed to equip you across a field of disciplines, and the student who excels in art may not be great at math, or the history buff may really struggle with science. Pointing out their strengths helps them to acknowledge their God given abilities and gifts to use in a broken and longing world.

When we only highlight performance, grades, or achievements, we send the message that they are loved for what they do. But when we point out character, kindness, or courage, we remind them that their value comes from who they are and whose they are. As mentors, parents, and leaders we must model a different way of living, one that shows that our identity is not rooted in status or salary but in Christ alone.

This also means we need to resist the temptation to live through our children or to burden them with our own dreams of success. Our calling is not to make sure they climb the ladder the world has built, but to show them how to walk faithfully with Jesus in the calling he has given them.

3. Provide Practical Pathways Forward

If we want the next generation to run after the Kingdom of God, we cannot only talk about it in abstract terms. We need to provide practical help and steps. Here are a few that I have found helpful:

• • Create space for rest. Encourage rhythms of Sabbath and margin. This may mean saying no to another activity or stepping back from an overloaded schedule. Our kids need to know that rest is part of God’s design.
  • Celebrate character, not just achievement. When they show integrity, kindness, or resilience, make sure to name it and affirm it. This helps them see what really matters in God’s economy.
  • Model dependence on God. Let them see you pray, seek wisdom, and admit weakness. Own your mistakes and share when you struggled at their age, but how you have seen God’s faithfulness. When they watch you rely on God, they will understand that their own lives do not have to be lived in self-sufficiency.
  • Invite them into God’s mission. Help them see that they are not just waiting for adulthood to matter. They can serve, love, and join in God’s redemptive work right now.

The next generation does not need a heavier load of expectations. They need parents, mentors, and leaders who remind them of their worth in Christ and point them toward his Kingdom. Our role is not to make them into who we think they should be but to help them discover who God has created them to be.

When we do this, we will raise up a generation that knows their value is not attached to performance, popularity, or perfection. Instead, they will be grounded in the truth that they are beloved children of God, called to live for his glory and his purposes in the world.

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What actually prompts people to attend church? We surveyed 604 people in the United States from a variety of backgrounds. We asked the same questions of two groups.

1. 1. Those who attend church regularly.
   2. Those who do not attend church regularly.

After comparing the two groups, we found new, surprising insights of the unchurched. One of the most surprising findings from our recent research was the simplicity behind what moves people to attend church for the first time (if unchurched) or to choose a new congregation (if churched). While many leaders assume that polished programming, charismatic preaching, or cutting-edge worship styles are the strongest magnets, the data reveals otherwise. 

The unchurched are often characterized as indifferent to church life. As we discovered in our research, many do not harbor hostility; they are simply disengaged. That indifference, however,

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We eventually started a periodic Sunday afternoon service at which one of us would preach to whomever showed up. I remember being instructed that we should increase the attendance because if we couldn’t, we probably wouldn’t be able to grow a church as the pastor. 

In 1989, I was called to my first church, beginning a full-time pastoral ministry lasting just over twenty years. But, since resigning a dearly-loved church in 2009, I haven’t held a full-time pastorate or staff position. Here are a few things I’ve learned since then.

1. Be content —and fruitful—wherever God places me.

As a young pastor, I was taught “the gifts and callings of God are without repentance,” which, of course, meant that anyone who ever announced a call to preach and didn’t preach was actively disobeying the call of God. But, really? 

What happens when you make yourself available to preach or seek opportunities for interim pastorates or pulpit-supply and no one calls? When your gifts are repeatedly reaffirmed by past congregants, but there is no place to exercise them. 

There simply is no call to “full-time paid pastoral service” outlined in the New Testament, and I had to come to grips with that. I can be a witness to Jesus anywhere and everywhere I come into contact with people, whether at a Christian publishing organization (check), a church planting ministry (check), or a retail tool store (check). 

2. People’s involvement is challenged because they are busy…and tired.

And it is not always by choice. 

A favorite pastoral target in recent years is families given over to “travel ball,” in which nearly every weekend is consumed by away baseball or football games, disallowing regular church attendance. Be not deceived: sports is not the only reason people are tired. 

Later middle-age, a time when past generations of Americans could see their wages increase and, with the kids grown and gone, prepare for retirement years, has become a sandwich. One slice of bread is kids staying at home because they can’t earn enough to move out, and the other slice is aging parents who need various degrees of care. 

People of all ages are augmenting their less-than-sufficient salaries (or creating primary income) with side gigs like Uber, Lyft, Door Dash, GrubHub, and Instacart. Others have permanent part-time income from freelance in the digital sphere. Most Americans aren’t working these long hours because they are greedy, but because it is the only way to make it through the month’s bills, prepare for economic uncertainty, or reduce their student debt. Nearly 40% of Gen Z work in a gig job. 

Not everyone chooses to put something over church attendance; they aren’t committing idolatry. Sometimes it’s their effort to simply survive. 

3. I was right to prioritize my own marriage.

That pastors’ marriages often suffer while they minister to other marriages is a truism. It’s one reason I previously wrote about three ways pastoral marriage longevity is obtainable.  

I probably made more mistakes as a pastor than I’ll ever know, but relegating my wife to second, third, or fourth place was not one of them. 

All marriages endure adjustment periods, but we didn’t have to introduce ourselves to each other after the pastorate ended. For that I am grateful.

4. The fruit of the Spirit does not require a pulpit to flourish.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 6:22, 23) 

Most anyone who has preached these words would have emphasized the fruit of the Spirit is expected of all Christians, not only missionaries, preachers, and seminary professors. No one needs a pulpit to bear 30-, 60-, or 100-times spiritual fruit. Thirty-fold isn’t limited to baby Christians, nor 100-fold exclusive to “professional” Christians. 

Contrariwise, fruit can burst forth outside the pastorate in ways you didn’t expect. 

So, don’t accept the thinking that you can only glorify God in pastoral ministry. Do some run Jonah-like in disobedience? Yes. But that isn’t every story. Sometimes the seasons do change. Don’t be saddened when the leaves turn; love God just as you did when they budded.

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Approximately ten years ago, I conducted a research project examining best practices for cultivating healthy church cultures. The research identified four key features of a healthy church culture: (1) it is led by a courageous leader, (2) it values the role of people, (3) it shares a common vision, and (4) it is committed to the biblical mission.

These characteristics define what a healthy culture looks like, but how do churches get there? After an in-depth study of three churches with healthy cultures, I identified eight essential practices that can help a church cultivate a healthy culture:

1. 1. Establish a gospel identity. A church’s culture must be rooted in its love for and commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Without this gospel foundation, a healthy culture cannot thrive.
   2. Let the Bible shape everything. God’s Word provides the blueprint for healthy churches. By aligning with God’s plan, churches can foster a culture that pleases Him.
   3. Foster a sense of community. A church is a family of Jesus-followers, and healthy cultures work hard to build genuine relationships and community among their people.
   4. Be marked by humility. Arrogance will poison a healthy culture. Church leaders and key influencers must be driven by humility, following the example of Jesus, who was humble and selfless.
   5. Leaders must model the desired culture. Leaders set the tone. If they don’t live out the cultural values they preach, it sends a message that they don’t truly believe in them.
   6. Train the congregation in cultural values. Church members often desire a healthy culture but may not know how to contribute to it. Wise leaders help their people understand their role in shaping and sustaining a healthy culture.
   7. Empower the congregation. Healthy culture isn’t built by leaders alone; it’s a collective effort. Leaders should empower their people to participate in shaping and sustaining the culture through leadership, feedback, service, prayer, and more.
   8. Prioritize the biblical model for the church. Above all else, healthy churches consistently return to the biblical model of the church. My research confirmed that Scripture provides the clearest path to a healthy culture.

Whether you realize it or not, your church’s culture is shaping every aspect of its life and ministry. For a church to be healthy, it must have a healthy culture. These eight practices provide a great starting point. Remember, God is good, and He can transform any church—including its culture.

If you want to shape a healthy culture in your church, it helps to know your church. Consider using the Know Your Church report in your church. You can learn more here.

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Here’s what I’m thinking about today, though, as my heart increasingly breaks for so many churches in North America that are disconnected from and unburdened about non-believers around them: I’m remembering how little I knew about church the first time I made my way to that small church in southwestern Ohio. I think about that truth because I don’t want to assume that my non-believing friends today have any more “church” knowledge than I had back then in 1974. A friend had shared the gospel with me prior to my going to church, but I still knew nothing about the experience of “church.”

I suspect some of these memories may seem hard to believe to folks raised in church, but below are some things I just didn’t know when I went to church for the first time:

1. I didn’t know what it meant to be in a Baptist church. I went to a Baptist church only because our neighbors who gave me a ride took me there. Imagine my surprise when I later learned that an ancient man named John apparently carried a title of “the Baptist,” too (?).
2. I didn’t know where to sit when I followed the crowd into the room with “benches” (in my mind). I just followed my friends’ lead—and I was glad they sat in the back!
3. I had never seen a hymnbook or sung a hymn. It felt like everyone else around me knew what they were doing, but I didn’t. I doubt it’s much different for folks today even though the music churches sing today is often quite different.
4. I didn’t know who the man was who seemed to be in charge. People called him “brother” (which was itself confusing to me). His apparent title on the piece of paper someone gave me when I walked into the building was “Pastor”—but I’d never heard that word before, either.
5. I wasn’t sure what to do when the man in charge said, “Greet one another with a hand of fellowship.” Seriously, I didn’t have a clue what any of that wording meant—and I surely wasn’t about to wander around like everybody else did saying “hi” to people I didn’t know.
6. I had no idea what prayer was all about. All I could tell was that I suddenly was the only one looking around the room when everyone else knew they were supposed to tilt their heads forward. Then, somebody seemed to be talking to God.
7. I didn’t have a Bible, and I wouldn’t have known how to use one if I did have one. Nothing about “John three sixteen” would have made sense to me. It felt like I was the only one in the room who didn’t have one of those books that everyone else seemed to be reading.
8. I knew I wanted to talk to someone at the end of the service, but fear almost kept me from doing so. It was God’s marvelous grace that led me to talk to the man who was the “pastor.” The most miraculous thing that happened that day was that God grabbed the heart of this confused, out-of-place teenage boy and made me His child. I knew nothing about church, but God reached me in the midst of my church ignorance. One week later, that pastor baptized me.

Here’s my point: as I’ve been burdened about reaching lost people around me and have intentionally sought to build relationships with them, I’m reminded regularly that many of them are just as ignorant about church as I was way back then. They might be just as uncomfortable as I was the first time they come to church—and we need to keep that truth in mind as we seek to show them the way to Jesus and invite them to join us for worship.

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If you’ve followed his work, you know he has a way of blending rigorous research with clear, relatable explanations. This time, he partnered with Tony Jones on a grant-funded project from the John Templeton Foundation’s Spiritual Yearning Research Initiative. The centerpiece? A massive survey titled Making Meaning in a Post-Religious America.

They went big—really big—on sample size. Using Qualtrics, a trusted data platform in both academic and business circles, they surveyed 15,296 Americans. Of those, 12,014 identified as atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular”—the group we’ve come to call the Nones. They also surveyed 3,282 Americans from various faith traditions (Protestant, Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, and others) as a reference group for comparison.

The goal? To see the Nones in a new light, using more nuance than traditional surveys allow. They applied a machine learning process called k-means clustering—an algorithm that groups people based on similarities without human bias in the sorting. The result: four distinct categories within the non-religious.

Those four groups are:

1. 1. NiNos (Nones in Name Only)
   2. SBNRs (Spiritual But Not Religious)
   3. The Dones
   4. Zealous Atheists

As you read, remember—Burge’s percentages are within the Nones, not the total U.S. population. In other words, when he says 36% of Nones fall into a category, that’s 36% of people who are religiously unaffiliated, not 36% of all Americans.

You can read Burge’s original article on his Graphs about Religion Substack here: The Four Types of Nones.

NiNos: Nones in Name Only (21% of the Nones)

Let’s start with the most surprising group—at least for those who think all Nones are thoroughly secular. The NiNos are, in many ways, still tethered to religion. They reject a religious label, but their practices and beliefs look, at times, like those inside the pews.

Nearly three-quarters of them choose “nothing in particular” as their affiliation. Yet over half pray daily, and a similar percentage say they believe in God without a doubt. One-third even attend religious services at least once a year. Compared to Protestants and Catholics, their religious engagement is still lower—but compared to other Nones, it’s much higher.

Here’s the kicker: NiNos may reflect a flaw in how surveys classify religious identity. Many don’t fit neatly into the categories survey researchers use. They may dislike institutions, but they retain personal faith and private spiritual habits. In that sense, they could be “low-commitment believers” rather than truly non-religious.

For pastors and church leaders, NiNos could represent the most reachable segment of the Nones—people already halfway to the front door, spiritually speaking.

SBNRs: Spiritual But Not Religious (36% of the Nones)

This is the largest group, and their label is familiar even outside academic circles. SBNRs resist organized religion but pursue spiritual meaning in other ways.

Their stats paint a clear picture: 93% seldom or never attend religious services, nearly 90% rarely pray, and only 5% say they believe in God without a doubt. But they score high on “spiritual importance,” which sets them apart from the Dones and Zealous Atheists.

They’re also deeply distrustful of religion—three-quarters say they have no trust in religious institutions at all. Instead, they turn to what you might call “alternative spiritual practices”—meditation, yoga, nature walks, crystals, energy work, and other non-institutional forms of meaning-making.

One key insight here: SBNRs may not be drawn back to church by traditional approaches. Instead, engagement might require building bridges through shared values like community service and community ministries like those offered by Upward Sports.

The Dones (33% of the Nones)

If the SBNRs keep one foot in the spiritual waters, the Dones have stepped completely out—and dried off. They register the lowest possible scores for both religious and spiritual importance.

They rarely, if ever, participate in religious practices—just 2% attend services at all, and 99% say they don’t pray. Belief in God? Almost nonexistent. The most telling stat: 77% agree with the statement, “When I die, my existence ends.”

For the Dones, religion is not only unnecessary—it’s irrelevant. In Burge’s words, there’s no evidence of a “God-shaped hole” here. That makes them the least likely to reengage with faith through conventional outreach.

Still, they’re worth understanding. Their firm disconnection from religion may say as much about past religious experiences (or lack thereof) as about their current worldview.

Zealous Atheists (11% of the Nones)

This is the smallest group, but it’s the one most people think of when they picture an outspoken non-believer. About three-quarters of them have tried to persuade someone to leave religion in the past year. Burge calls them the “Reddit Atheists” for their quickness to critique faith online.

They’re often active in debates, mocking religious concepts they see as irrational (“Sky Daddy” jokes and references to the “Flying Spaghetti Monster” abound). What’s surprising is that some still have minimal interaction with religion—17% attend a service at least once a year, and some admit to occasional prayer.

Why? Possibly because religion still touches their lives indirectly—through family, holidays, or cultural moments. And that ongoing contact may fuel their critical engagement.

It’s worth noting that despite their online visibility, Zealous Atheists represent just over one in ten Nones—not the face of the entire unaffiliated world.

What Do the Church Leaders Do with This Research?

Burge and Jones’ work gives us a sharper lens for understanding the religiously unaffiliated. Instead of treating all Nones as one undifferentiated group, we can now see four distinct faces:

• • NiNos who still show religious behaviors.
  • SBNRs who reject religion but seek spiritual fulfillment elsewhere.
  • Dones who have checked out completely.
  • Zealous Atheists who actively oppose religion.

Here’s what’s crucial to remember: these percentages describe the Nones, not all Americans. And within those categories, there’s fluidity—people can shift over time from one group to another.

For faith leaders, this means engagement strategies must be as diverse as the Nones themselves. The NiNos may respond to gentle invitations, SBNRs to shared causes, Dones to authentic relationships, and Zealous Atheists… well, they may just want to argue on X.

But one unspoken truth in Burge’s research is that secular America isn’t monolithic. If we can understand the nuances, we may be better equipped not only to talk about the Nones—but to talk with them.

Read Ryan Burge’s full article here: The Four Types of Nones – Graphs About Religion

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“The most segregated hour is at 11 a.m. on Sunday morning” is a widely recognized statement concerning race and religion in the United States. While often linked to Martin Luther King, Jr., variations of this expression predated his popularization of it. Regardless of its origin, the core message remains constant: religion in the United States distinctly reflects deep-seated racial divisions.

But has anything changed around race and religion since those ideas were injected into mainstream discourse in the 1950s and 1960s? It’s a very hard question to answer. Most surveys don’t ask about the specific church people attend, typically only inquiring about attendance frequency. The recent Pew Religious Landscape Survey is an exception, as it included a question for regular attendees: “When you attend religious services in person, what is the race or ethnicity of most other people attending?”

Within the sample, 52% of respondents reported attending a predominantly

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