The other day, my family and I were talking about snow white hair - something that runs in my family. Most likely, my hair will eventually turn that color; and it was pointed out that I’m already making strides in that direction. I retorted that the change in color in my hair was a byproduct of pastoring a church through the pandemic year. I went into Covid with dark brown hair and came out of Covid with a spectacled crown. Covid had made an impact.

Covid brought changes to a lot of different areas of life, especially within the church. One area that every pastor has felt is the impact on church attendance. I have asked almost every pastor I know, and the response has been the same: the average church goers attendance has dropped significantly. This is not just a feeling. Polls have verified what pastors have felt. The article, “The Post-Pandemic Shift to Evangelical Church Engagement,” notes that 75% of pastors sense people’s apathy and lack of commitment towards church. This makes sense considering that 22% of professing evangelicals do not even grace the doors to their church monthly. After the pandemic, a person considers themselves a regular church attender if he is in the church for 2 Sundays a month. This is a change from the title regular church attender being reserved solely for those who attended services on a weekly basis. Covid has changed things, and in person attendance is one of the casualties. 

This article comes on the heels of my previous article that focused on whether we attend church out of habit or with a purpose. As I was writing that piece, I realized I was making a pretty big assumption: people made it a habit of coming to church. That may have been the case for professing evangelicals in previous generations, but I’m not sure it is the case today. Declining attendance in the country argues against this assumption. Today, a regular attender misses church as often as attending church. You might argue a regular attender is also a regular absenter (yes, I made up that word.).

I’m sure that you might be tempted to throw some mental objections to an article like this. You might think that I’m the pastor and should say something like this. I’m supposed to pressure you into attending church or I wouldn’t have anyone to preach to. That is not what this is about. Whatever church you might attend, you should be in there as much as possible! Another objection you might throw my way is that the church is not the building, but the people. That’s true . . . to an extent. It’s true. The New Testament portrays the church as the people, not the building; but it paints the church as the gathered people, not the individual believer. The very word church (ekkleēsia) means gathering or assembly. The New Testament picture of the church is a gathered church, something that happens on a weekly basis in our church building.

Lastly, you might be tempted to play the legalism card: to focus on church attendance is to focus on a legalistic measure. I understand that. We could easily be tempted to base the maturity of an individual upon the frequency at which they attend Sunday services. That is why I wrote the previous article on attending church with a purpose. Our nature leads us to a path of legalistic habit, rather than being part of what God is doing Sunday after Sunday. Much of what we are called to do as believers could easily be understood in legalistic terms, rather than as an outflow of our love for the Lord. We speak truthfully, not so that we might receive God’s grace, but because we are recipients of His grace. We show others love, not to merit God’s love but as an outflow of being loved. So, we consistently attend church, not for the notch in our spiritual belt, but as a response of God’s grace. Church attendance flows out of what Christ has done for us.

I am not going to analyze why consistent church attendance is on the decline. I believe there are many factors that contribute to the problem. Rather, I am going to provide three reasons why church attendance should be prioritized in your life. The first two reasons are summed up well by Tony Merida in Love Your Church. He writes, “Recognize that you need your church and your church needs you. If you are hit-or-miss on a Sunday, it will impact your spiritual health. If you’re late or you don’t engage in worship, it will impact your experience. And failing to take corporate gatherings seriously doesn’t help your brothers and sisters, who need your voice, your engagement, your solidarity, your prayer, and your joy” (Love Your Church, 71).

Why make church attendance a priority?

Because you need the church. You need to sing with other believers (Eph 5:19-20) and to sit under the word with them (Acts 2:42). You need them to speak the truth of God’s Word into your life and push you towards good works (Heb 3:13; 10:24-25). Furthermore, all of us are prone to two powerful deceptions. The first is self-deception. We are constantly talking to ourselves, and unfortunately, listening to ourselves, leaving us prone to self-deception. We can conclude very easily that the greatest dangers in our lives come from outside of us, and that by ourselves, we are doing fine. All of this leads to a self-deceived distortion of reality. We need the body of Christ to keep us from this.

The other common deception we can fall into is what I have labeled family deception. As families, we can become so self-focused and self-contained that others in the church have no opportunity to speak into our lives. Our dinner table consistently and accurately sees what is best in the world - which is quite convenient considering our glaring similarities. Like individuals, families can be self-deceived and blind to our spiritual condition and need for certain truths. We need the church. We need others, speaking into our lives. Attendance at church is the starting point for this.

Because the church needs you. You are a vital part of the body of Christ! Every member is necessary for the spiritual well being of the whole church (1 Cor 12:12-28). You may be tempted to downplay your gifts, talents, and knowledge, failing to recognize that every person in the church plays a vital role in the health of the church. Just like you need others to speak truth in your life, so they need you to truth into their lives. Furthermore, by showing up on Sunday, your presence lends support to the whole body - locking up arms with the body for the spread of the Gospel and the cause of spiritual growth.


Because gathering with the church anticipates the life to come. We live in the present in light of the future. What does the future look like? The picture of heaven painted by Revelation is a public gathering of all who have been redeemed, praising the Lord for his great work of redemption (cf. Rev 5:11-14). You might say that it looks oddly familiar to what a Sunday morning should look like! As we commit to attending church with the body, we are disciplining our lives to line up with where we are heading. We are living in light of what’s to come.

See you in worship . . . 


Your servant in the Lord,