Recent discussions about the trends in church attendance illustrate a growing divide between older and younger generations regarding their views of the church, [1] which may raise questions about what contributes to this divide. The Church Health Assessment (CHA) can provide a snapshot of the differences that exist in some of our Churches of Christ today. To date, 22 congregations have utilized this assessment to help them gauge member perceptions of various aspects of congregational life.

Today I will examine the generational differences on the following nine factors of health the CHA measures: [2]

1. Vision, mission, and goals

2. Ministry and activity effectiveness

3. Family life stages

4. Spiritual formation and discipleship

5. Worship

6. Congregational culture, communication, and conflict

7. Leadership

8. Church relationships

9. Finance and facilities

There were 3,566 individuals in 22 congregations who participated in the Church Health Assessment between January 2017 and December 2019. In this analysis I am not including several congregations that used an earlier version of the CHA; changes that were made to the CHA make comparison difficult. Additionally, 137 of those individuals did not answer the question “How old are you?” The total number used in this analysis is 3,429 people.

Of these 3,429 respondents, 37.4% are 65 years old or older. To put this in perspective, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, about 15.2% of the U.S. population is over the age of 65. [3] Among respondents to the CHA, about 11.4% are under the age of 35. Click the graphic below to enlarge it.

Comparing age groups’ participation, likes, and dislikes

All respondents to the CHA are regular church attenders with two-thirds attending more than once a week and the other third attending once a week. However, there is some variation by age, with older age groups being more likely to attend church more than once a week. Those who are 75 and older are the most likely to attend more than once a week (70.1%), while those who are younger than 35 are the least likely (59.8%).

Conversely, younger respondents are more likely to report being more highly involved in congregational life. Nearly a quarter (24.3%) of respondents under 35 and 31% of respondents aged 35-44 score their participation level as a 5 out of 5. As age increases that percentage decreases, with those aged 65-74 and 75 and older being nearly half as likely to rate their involvement as a 5 (17.7% and 14.8%, respectively).

In terms of what respondents like most and least about their congregation, we find that just over one-fifth of respondents under age 35 like corporate worship the most, while more than twice as many respondents in the 55-64 (38.7%), 65-74 (42.6%), and 75 and older (44.6%) groups report that corporate worship is what they like the most. Younger respondents are more than twice as likely as their older cohorts to report that the activities, programs, and ministries are the elements they like most about their congregation (13.8% and 6.5%, respectively).

When it comes to what people dislike about their congregation, 15.6% of those in the youngest cohort say corporate worship, while just over 6% of respondents in the top three age categories list corporate worship as their least favorite. Older cohorts are more likely to say they dislike that outreach is lacking at their congregation (16.2% as compared to 8.7%).

Comparing age groups’ perceptions

In order to see what differences exist between age groups and the factors of the CHA, I compared the average scores on the CHA for each age group. I also ran a One-Way Analysis of Variance with F-test for statistical significance and found that there are significant differences in six of the nine factors.

What I find interesting about these differences is that in only some cases is the relationship linear – meaning that as age increases we see an increase in the average factor score. Spiritual formation and discipleship is the closest to a linear relationship, followed by the worship factor. Instead, a nonlinear relationship is more likely. For example, in the family life stages factor, the 45-54-year-olds are the least satisfied, while the under 35 and over 74 groups have a very similar score. This could be due to the fact that 45-to-54-year-olds are the most likely to have children in the youth group or have recently had children in that age group, so they’re more directly impacted by those programs.

For the most part, the group aged 45-54 is the least satisfied and views their congregation as less healthy than both younger and older members of the congregation. Click the graphic below to enlarge it.

Let’s dive into the two factors that have the biggest differences by age: family life stages and worship. In family life stages, the differences by age group exist within seven of the 12 individual factors. In all of these items, we see that the 45-54 age group has the lowest average compared to both younger and older age groups. The items where we see differences are:

1. There are sufficient programs about parenting at this church.

2. This church provides support for married couples.

3. There are no Bible classes specifically designed for married couples and their needs. (reverse coded) [4]

4. Single people often feel left out in this congregation. (reverse coded)

5. There are small groups or Bible classes dedicated to young professionals.

6. Young adults often feel as if they don’t belong in this congregation. (reverse coded)

7. The youth group at this church is thriving.

The worship factor is a bit different in that there is more of a linear relationship in which the youngest age group has the lowest average on five of the eight items. The biggest difference is on the item, “The singing during corporate worship is filled with life and vitality,” with a 10-point difference between the youngest age group and the oldest age group. The items within the worship factor where we see a significant difference between the youngest and oldest age groups are:

1. When I attend the corporate assembly I am filled with joy.

2. The preaching is inspirational.

3. Participating in corporate worship encourages me to live a more Christ-like life.

4. The singing during corporate worship is filled with life and vitality.

5. Members of this church meaningfully participate in the singing.

Closing thoughts

While there are generational differences in the factors of church health, those differences aren’t necessarily among the oldest and youngest members of the congregation. However, research suggests that younger people are more likely to leave the congregation when they feel that their needs are not being met, so young people who likely would have rated the congregation lower in the CHA have likely already left the congregation.

Finally, we need to recognize that, since they self-selected into the survey, these congregations are not a representative sample of Churches of Christ.

In future Mosaic posts, I’ll talk about leadership strengths and weaknesses along with vision, mission, and goals or lack thereof.

If you’d like more information about the CHA and how to utilize it in your congregation, visit the CHA page on the Siburt Institute website. See also my previous articles on emerging trends and differences in elders’ vs. members’ perceptions.

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[1] “In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace,“ Pew Research Center (October 17, 2019).

[2] Each factor is a scale that includes multiple items that were asked of respondents. Each factor is made up of eight to 18 individual items.

[3] “2017 Profile of Older Americans,” Administration on Aging (April 2018).

[4] Reverse coding refers to an item that is worded negatively, where strongly agree would be a negative attribute, and then the value assigned to the response is reversed after the data have been collected.