Travis Johnson, over at The Edge Church Think Tank, posted an article bemoaning the incredible shrinking church: “The Great Shrinking Church. What Gives?!?!” First, he cites some statistics from The American Church:

• 18.7%: Americans in church in 2000
• 18.0%: Americans in church in 2003
• 11.7%: Americans projected to be in church by 2050
• 4,600: New churches from 1990–2000
• 38,802: How many new churches there should have been in order to keep pace with American population.

That America is becoming an increasingly secular nation is no surprise. That traditional church style seems increasingly irrelevant in the “naughties” and that church numbers are in decline—again—no surprise.

So, taking an unflinching look at the numbers (there was more cited), Travis concludes:

“In my mind, those statistics absolutely prove that we MUST move every single priority to the side burner. Establishing new churches and transitioning declining churches needs to be