I happened to stumble across an article in one of Baltimore's newspapers yesterday titled "Dwindling congregations cause churches to work cooperatively" by Pastor Kevin McGee of Bethany Community Church. The article mentions a recent Willow Creek poll called the "Reveal study" which claims most churchgoers are "stalled" or "dissatisfied" with their current church, and that:

A recent study by an influential association of evangelical churches has served as a wake-up call to church leaders across the nation. Of about 350,000 churches in America, four out of five have either plateaued or are declining. In spite of the rise of mega-churches, no county in America has a greater church population than it did a decade ago.

No county has more churchgoers than ten years ago?!  I have trouble believing this. I see lots of churches starting up. I'm a member of a church that's only one year old, having left a Willow Creek-style mega-church. But could it be more churches are dying silent deaths? Is the net result a decrease?

Facinatingly, the columnist talks about new trends and directions congregations are persuing as a result of these studies:

Fading are the days when churches see themselves as competing for members. Instead, there are many new efforts to cooperate across denominational lines. For example, 13 churches in Laurel [a city in Maryland near me] will gather early next year to pray for one another and to work together to reach out into the community in the days leading up to Easter 2008.

That sounds awesome! I'm going to see how my church can get involved.

My reasons for posting this is threefold: (1) to point you to the interesting results of the study; (2) to question their results, particularly the one about dwindling congregations; (3) to endorse and encourage interdenominational collaboration.