momofkhm Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 I'm Christian, but I assume that this happens in all religions that have a weekly service. Does the attendance at your weekly service fall off in the summer? I mean like way off. And has it picked up yet? We usually average around 150 people during the year but we're lucky to have 50 in the summer time. Some of the regulars who have been out all summer are back but attendance still isn't back up. It seems like we spend all school year building up only to fall off during the summer. Ok, second question, one I wasn't going to ask - when do you know that the parish has "died" and it's time to move on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Ours (UU) definitely falls off during the summer and probably won't really get into full swing consistently until after Labor Day. At the (Presbyterian) church where I grew up, if we had had 50 people (including kids) on a Sunday other than Christmas and Easter it would have been a happy big deal.:) The church lasted for decades at that level. We've been at our present UU church for 12 years and only in the last 2 have we consistently had more than 50-70 people for a service at all. Hitting the 150 mark was cause for much rejoicing! ;) I think that is not uncommon in many small congregations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Ours falls a bit during the summer, but nearly as much as yours! Wow, that's quite a huge difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Ours falls about the same percentage you mentioned some Sundays in summer. This one we had more because we had a priest leave and a new rector come in, so people wanted to say goodbye and hello. It doesn't usually pick back up until September. We don't have Sunday school during summer because of poor attendance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyndiLJ Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Similar story with our church. Falls probably 30% or so during the summer, picks up after Labor Day. One thing that affects it all is who makes up the congregation. Snow birds? families who camp a lot? Etc. That can explain it. Like others, ours too has operated at this level for years and years. Cindy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyhomemaker Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Ours does drop a bit in the summer. It can be a big drop, depending on the week. It doesn't usually drop that much for the whole summer. Just certain weeks are big vacation weeks. The attendance goes back to normal after Labor Day. As for when a church is dead, I would say when the present congregation is unable to be self-sufficient financially and there appears to be no growth over a long period of time (maybe a year or more?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristi26 Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Ours definitely falls off in the summer though it isn't really very noticeable as our average attendance in the SUMMER is at 10,000 right now. :lol: I expect to see it up between 12,000-13,000 sometime after Labor Day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Your location says you're in Cary---I'm guessing that your congregation has a large number of transplants? I grew up here (NC, not Cary:)) and being there every Sunday was just the norm, but, as we've had the huge influx of people from other areas of the country over the last 25 years or so, I've discovered that my experience wasn't the norm elsewhere. I was totally shocked to find that many UU churches in the Northeast, for instance, had a long-standing tradition of closing their doors totally during the summer, and folks moving here from those churches were surprised we didn't! Things to consider: Do many of the families use summer months to travel to see relatives in other areas of the country or just to vacation (if you have a lot of transplants, this may be a big effect)? Kids involved in camps that include Sundays? Sports teams have tournaments or away activities on Sundays? Is the minister on vacation in the summer and you have guest speakers (one of our ministers was out of the pulpit for about 6 weeks each summer)? When does public school start back (it's next week in our area)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 As for when a church is dead, I would say when the present congregation is unable to be self-sufficient financially and there appears to be no growth over a long period of time (maybe a year or more?) I think the financial aspect is the key one. I'd give it longer than a year on the growth issue, though, before giving up on it totally. Take a look at that demographics of the congregation as well. Even if the money is there (through an endowment or something), are the vast majority of the members elderly, with few younger members and families to keep it going over time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 I think the financial aspect is the key one. I'd give it longer than a year on the growth issue, though, before giving up on it totally. Take a look at that demographics of the congregation as well. Even if the money is there (through an endowment or something), are the vast majority of the members elderly, with few younger members and families to keep it going over time? :iagree: I don't think something has to be continually growing to sustain itself. Age of congregants probably comes into play there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIch elle Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Episcopal Churches tend to take the summer off - no choir, no children's Sunday school and less meetings make it MUCH slower. We've learned that every church goes through cycles: birth, growth, death and then over again. It's not really death (unless it closes) but is low on attendance and energy. It takes LOTS of energy to bring the church from death to birth again. This is not my church but what the Episcopal Church in general talks about. Usually I've seen this as a circle, not a bell curve as the link shows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostSurprise Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 I agree that it depends on your area and the make up of your church. We have a lot of snow birds, so January through March can be quieter, but we also have a touristy area near us so summers can be quiet as people either camp/vacation or work a second job on weekends. Having just moved a church who hasn't grown in the 10 years we've lived here, I would say if a church can't pay its bills and can't man children's programming its probably dying. DH comes from a church which is 90% over the age of 60. Lovely, lovely people. We love visiting, but we can see that even though they meet my 2 basic requirements they are in a slow decline. If young parents don't see other parents they just move on. Children's programming is very important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 I agree that it depends on your area and the make up of your church. We have a lot of snow birds, so January through March can be quieter, but we also have a touristy area near us so summers can be quiet as people either camp/vacation or work a second job on weekends. Having just moved a church who hasn't grown in the 10 years we've lived here, I would say if a church can't pay its bills and can't man children's programming its probably dying. DH comes from a church which is 90% over the age of 60. Lovely, lovely people. We love visiting, but we can see that even though they meet my 2 basic requirements they are in a slow decline. If young parents don't see other parents they just move on. Children's programming is very important. This is a big issue at our church. We've seen many, many young couples come and go because our church offers nothing beyond poorly attended Sunday school for children. We have two services with hundreds of people, but there averages 1-5 kids per class, which are divided into three grades each and "youth" (so 3yo-K, 1-3, 4-6, 7-12). There is a youth group, but nothing at all for younger kids. We've tried to get things going, but nothing ever lasts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMamaBird Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Yes, our attendance is way down. So much so, that our church goes from four services to two during the month of August. Come school time, it'll pick right back up to normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess in the Burbs Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 I went to a large church years ago that come summer no one was around. Like Memorial Day was normally over 100 kids and there might be 10 that weekend. Our current church is 65 people most week so summer can get down to 25 but it's obvious when a lot of people travel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSheep Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 In most LDS wards I've been part of I have not noticed any seasonal difference in attendance. The small branch I grew up in consistently had a summer attendance of around 100, and a winter attendance of more like 30, but it was in an area where we had a lot of seasonal employees and tourists in the summer, and just a few core year-'round residents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petrichor Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 We're Muslim. A lot of our congregation takes month-long vacations over summer break, or 2+ week vacations over winter break. BUT, I find that attendance really picks up in the summer(independent of when Ramadan falls). Mainly because our main weekly service/sermon is on Friday during the school day, and many women/girls either teach in schools or attend high school/middle school. I think the men all come regardless of time of the year, since attendance is a religious obligation for them, though, if the friday happens on a work vacation, attendance will increase since the men(and the women who work) will be attending the masjid closest to them, and we have a lot of muslims in our community. Most of the jobs are in other cities, so the men will usually attend masjids in those cities on working days. And then, in Ramadan, we get huge numbers, no matter what time of the year it is :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinsfamily Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Ours did fall off significantly and it is very noticeable being a small church. However, it has been back in full force for about three weeks. Plus, we've grown quite a bit. School starts here next Monday (this week for some of the private schools) so most people have been home from vacation for awhile to get ready. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
love2read Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Ours doesn't. We're Catholic and while a lot of the regulars go on vacation, travelers fill the empty pews. I really enjoy seeing the new faces and talking to them after Mass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 People travel and take vacations in the summer here, so yes, parish attendance goes down. We offer adult Sunday School in the summer--two "light" 4 week courses, one that the assistant does when the rector is on his 4 week vaca, and one the rector does when the assistant is out. We go down to 2 services. It's nice, because we usually have 3, so the clergy get a little break. And, we get to see the 8 o'clock people...LOL! We also follow the school year for Sunday School, so it stops in June. The teachers need a break, too. Choir also takes off--instead, we have soloists, trios and instrumentalists only. The organist has her vacation, too. It's nicely relaxed. Youth group meets twice in the summer (this year, anyway), once for a fun movie night, and once for an "open house" where the youth room (in a trailer) is open and kids and parents can come and play/ask questions/see the youth minister/hang out. We come back refreshed and ready to worship together and learn together. It's very healthy for us. More than you wanted to know.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Ours doesn't. We're Catholic and while a lot of the regulars go on vacation, travelers fill the empty pews. I really enjoy seeing the new faces and talking to them after Mass. I wonder if this "summer slump" is less of an issue in religions/denominations in which weekly attendance is a stated religious obligation (as I think it is for Roman Catholic)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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