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Empty Church: Why People Don’t Come And What To Do About It
On Sunday March 15, 2020, churches across America were empty. Overnight the Covid-19 pandemic engulfed the world, accelerating the technological, social, and spiritual trends that are changing the way churches must engage our world.
With clear, documented insights Empty Church explains why leading a healthy church is so much more difficult today. But Empty Church doesn’t stop there. With the education of a missiologist and the experience of a churchman, Stanley E. Granberg, Ph.D., provides practical, actionable steps your church can take to address the challenge of empty churches.
With clear, documented insights Empty Church explains why leading a healthy church is so much more difficult today. But Empty Church doesn’t stop there. With the education of a missiologist and the experience of a churchman, Stanley E. Granberg, Ph.D., provides practical, actionable steps your church can take to address the challenge of empty churches.
167 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 28, 2022
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January 5, 2026
Empty Church, Why People Don’t Come and What To Do About It
Stanley E. Granberg
14 Connecting new people to your church is the only remedy for decline.
18 Regrettably, too often our main tasks are to keep people happy and keep issues to a minimum.
19 If there are multiple staff it is typically the minister and an administrative secretary.
41 Our trend is a seeming lack of evangelistic activity.
51 Go to heritage21.org to create account and access video and sample document resources. Could not get access on 1/3/26, never received account confirmation code.
Church leaders should lead their churches through a revisioning process every 3 to 5 years.
52 The church must seek a path to reverse its decline, become attractive to new people, and find a new mission and vision that breathes new life into the church.
53 Churches that need to close – their members feel satisfied that they are still meeting, but they have no measurable kingdom impact.
57 Review / update articles of incorporation and by-laws to protect the church legally. By-laws should include clear process for making decisions about future stewardship of assets. No deferred maintenance items (roof, parking, etc.) that can’t be paid off within 12 months. Update bathrooms. Minister should have a prominent public role in community.
60 A church should always have at least one conversion baptism per year (per 50 members), minimum to maintain. 1.25 to grow. There will be no growth without conversion baptisms.
A healthy congregation devotes 25-50% of budget to missions and local outreach.
62 Church assessment – Anticipation for worship. ? Is about expecting the presence and experience of God / excitement of God’s presence. ?
Churches grow best when members are consistently and regularly inviting those around them to experience what they are experiencing. Special lessons, events, small group meetings, meals.
68 ? “that our heritage is the only right and true church and others are not?” ?
? “Somewhere in all that goodness I picked up the idea that we were “the church”. “ ?
69 ? “Thinking that we are the only right church is not a valid reason for keeping a church open.” ?
71 Every church needs to be faithful in its role as a steward of God’s resources . As long as a church is using its wealth for God’s work and His mission, it is good. But once a church reaches the point where all it is doing is surviving in order to keep a small remnant of people happy, it is no longer stewarding its resources well. At some point a church’s best stewardship decision is to sell and repurpose resources to support other kingdom work.
73 Revision every 3-5 years.
? Redevelop is a restart, existing church lets a new church grow in its pace. ?
Always be developing the sense of mission that leads the church to evangelistically reach new people.
74 Serving gives very attractive invitation options where we can invite people to serve with us.
The purpose of discipling is to XXXXX – teach people to disciple others.
76 Left to itself, the value for evangelism will diminish to the point where it becomes normal NOT to reach out to people for Christ. Rohrmayer 2007. When a church experiences evangelistic entropy it loses both its motivation for and its capacity to share Jesus with those who are not yet believers. If you want your church to be healthy, sustainable , and able to grow, you need to address your evangelistic entropy.
77 Example of evangelistic entropy: Your minister is not evangelistically active in the lives of lost people. There was a time when we called our ministers “evangelists”. I remember when ministers (and church leaders) took the role of evangelist seriously. They led the charge in having personal Bible studies, neighborhood door-knocking and conducting cottage meetings. Your minister should spend at least one full day every week in evangelistic and outreach activities. If you minister is not committed to regularly work evangelistically with people who are not part of your church, your church probably is experiencing evangelistic entropy.
? Author equates Jule Millier filmstrips to Bill Bright’s Four Spiritual Laws (Baptist) as salvation efforts. ?
78 The reason your church exists is to fulfill God’s mission to seek and save the lost.
81 Author claims people need to see Jesus as an option. That many people don’t like him.
82 Evangelism as aggressor / defender, to intellectually beet the person into submission - doesn’t feel good for either side. A better, more biblical way is the role of spiritual guide. Like Philip and Nathaniel John 1:43-51.
83 A soul friend / spiritual guide is curious about what’s happening in the life of the other. Asks questions. Listens attentively. Sees the work of God in the life of the other and brings that work into the light so they can see how deeply God is engaged with them.
Spiritual conversations with someone about Jesus. It’s scary. We don’t have much experience, and our church probably doesn’t talk about it. If we are going to reach new people with the good news of Jesus, we need to learn how to start healthy spiritual conversations with them.
Three-question conversation: 1) The polite question. How are you doing? 2) The interest question. Do you shop here often? Which child is yours? 3) The caring question. First share something about yourself. This establishes you as a safe person. Make your caring question about feelings. Do you feel good about…?
85 You may hear intimate details about their life. When people sense you are offering a safe place for conversation, many will jump at it.
Invite them to continue the conversation with you. “I’d love to hear more of you personal story. Coffee?”
You’ve made the offer. Offer your cell number. Maybe touch base next week? Ask for their number. Thank them.
86 Spiritual diagnosis – Why are they not yet a believer? 1 Intelectual, 2 Lifestyle doesn’t allow it, 3 Oppression (dependencies, addiction, traumas) 4 Bad Experiences (accidents, illness, deaths, or with bad Christians 5 No Knowledge
89 Spiritual Journey Napkin – X (not interested), ? (curious), Bible (seeking), Cross, Forward Arrow (following), Up Arrow (growing). Draw it. Ask “Where do you see yourself”. Mark it. “Where would you like to be in 6 months?” “What is stopping you?” “How can I help?” Always leave the conversation with an open invitation for next step.
91 When your church is evangelistic you will see God at work. One friend began her journey saying she had never seen God in her life. A year later in tears she related multiple amazing moments when now, through lens of belief, she saw God at work in her life. Evangelistic churches hear and experience these stories over and over.
92 When a new person becomes a Christian they typically will lead you to two or three other people who might also become new Christians. New growth produces more new growth!
98 Kindness and service become servant evangelism when we deliberately attach a message of faith to our actions.
99 Make sure you communicate your church when serving. Leave contact cards.
The work a church does in a community softens the hearts and attitudes of unbelievers they meet.
Servant evangelism gets us outside our building where we can meet people, deliberately with purpose. One church ran a face painting booth with free balloons at every farmers market. While one person painted faces, another spoke with parents spiritually and completed contact cards to receive more info. That church grew from this one, repeated activity. Renovo church in Puyallup WA.
100 Where do the people we want to reach gather? {sports) Go there. 1) Do their things in their places. Take an inventory of what is happening in your neighborhood, What events are happening in schools? Go to the events and join in. A guest in their space. Play by their rules. Shows respect and builds trust.
2) Do their things in our “places”. Things they’re already doing, but now we organize it. Take the load off them. You’ll get to know those who have been working the activities, and those you ask to serve with you. Golden opportunities to invite people to serve. To come help do something good for people.
3) Do our things in our places. Our picnics, fellowships, worship services. When people take this third step we should be comfortable engaging them in spiritual talks. By joining you in doing things in your places they are giving you explicit permission to share faith with them.
106 We are constantly loving, inviting, and encouraging those who do not follow Jesus to join us and enter this life changing relationship with God. Mature disciples produce good fruit.
110 House church, where children play while adults visit, share a meal, a time of prayer, study, singing. Open for new participants, open ended time-wise. Some last for years.
Discipleship groups are usually gender specific. Personal accountability. Living well. Growing in the Word. Accountability questions and in-depth study. Last for a season, six months or a year. Membership usually closed until a new group forms.
111 We must structure our meeting schedule to include some kind of house church in it. How’s the Sunday AM, PM Wed PM working for you? Few churches sustain it. Maybe a house church on Sunday PM or Wed PM.
Four Components: 1) Fresh Bread. From God’s Word. Try the Discover Bible Study (DBS). No prep. Hear God for themselves, talk about what they’re hearing. a) read, reread, retell. Read it. Someone else different version. Someone else retells in own words. Then these questions. b) God is… What do we learn about God? c) We are… What do we learn about people? d) I will… How will I put this into practice? e) Someone… Who do I know who needs to hear this?
112 2) Shared Meals. Eating together is the best ice-breaker. 3) Mutual Care. Specific time of sharing for prayer. 4) Missional Eyes. Look out for opportunities for your group to serve others. At least quarterly.
130 Must have good signage in your church. Thet directs / orients visitors.
Prayer Walk – Get your church walking on selected streets. To pray for the people. To look around and find needs. How can we serve? How can we join in? Debrief them.
133 Big Days. Times when the church puts on a push to invite family, friends co-workers, neighbors. A friends and neighbors day. 1) It gives the church a reason to become inviters. 2) It helps build your database.
136 The Alpha Course, an 11-week small group experience, well packaged and broadly used. Ongoing and repeatable. (Presbyterian/Charismatic)
People need small group connections to thrive spiritually. To feel connected and needed. Stickiness. New people are far more likely to to stick in a small group. Secret sauce -> eating together.
137 You won’t grow much if you wait for people to stumble into your building. You must be seeking them. New connections – the people you add to your database. Aim for 500/yr.
Easy invite opportunities – worship gatherings and service events.
Stanley E. Granberg
14 Connecting new people to your church is the only remedy for decline.
18 Regrettably, too often our main tasks are to keep people happy and keep issues to a minimum.
19 If there are multiple staff it is typically the minister and an administrative secretary.
41 Our trend is a seeming lack of evangelistic activity.
51 Go to heritage21.org to create account and access video and sample document resources. Could not get access on 1/3/26, never received account confirmation code.
Church leaders should lead their churches through a revisioning process every 3 to 5 years.
52 The church must seek a path to reverse its decline, become attractive to new people, and find a new mission and vision that breathes new life into the church.
53 Churches that need to close – their members feel satisfied that they are still meeting, but they have no measurable kingdom impact.
57 Review / update articles of incorporation and by-laws to protect the church legally. By-laws should include clear process for making decisions about future stewardship of assets. No deferred maintenance items (roof, parking, etc.) that can’t be paid off within 12 months. Update bathrooms. Minister should have a prominent public role in community.
60 A church should always have at least one conversion baptism per year (per 50 members), minimum to maintain. 1.25 to grow. There will be no growth without conversion baptisms.
A healthy congregation devotes 25-50% of budget to missions and local outreach.
62 Church assessment – Anticipation for worship. ? Is about expecting the presence and experience of God / excitement of God’s presence. ?
Churches grow best when members are consistently and regularly inviting those around them to experience what they are experiencing. Special lessons, events, small group meetings, meals.
68 ? “that our heritage is the only right and true church and others are not?” ?
? “Somewhere in all that goodness I picked up the idea that we were “the church”. “ ?
69 ? “Thinking that we are the only right church is not a valid reason for keeping a church open.” ?
71 Every church needs to be faithful in its role as a steward of God’s resources . As long as a church is using its wealth for God’s work and His mission, it is good. But once a church reaches the point where all it is doing is surviving in order to keep a small remnant of people happy, it is no longer stewarding its resources well. At some point a church’s best stewardship decision is to sell and repurpose resources to support other kingdom work.
73 Revision every 3-5 years.
? Redevelop is a restart, existing church lets a new church grow in its pace. ?
Always be developing the sense of mission that leads the church to evangelistically reach new people.
74 Serving gives very attractive invitation options where we can invite people to serve with us.
The purpose of discipling is to XXXXX – teach people to disciple others.
76 Left to itself, the value for evangelism will diminish to the point where it becomes normal NOT to reach out to people for Christ. Rohrmayer 2007. When a church experiences evangelistic entropy it loses both its motivation for and its capacity to share Jesus with those who are not yet believers. If you want your church to be healthy, sustainable , and able to grow, you need to address your evangelistic entropy.
77 Example of evangelistic entropy: Your minister is not evangelistically active in the lives of lost people. There was a time when we called our ministers “evangelists”. I remember when ministers (and church leaders) took the role of evangelist seriously. They led the charge in having personal Bible studies, neighborhood door-knocking and conducting cottage meetings. Your minister should spend at least one full day every week in evangelistic and outreach activities. If you minister is not committed to regularly work evangelistically with people who are not part of your church, your church probably is experiencing evangelistic entropy.
? Author equates Jule Millier filmstrips to Bill Bright’s Four Spiritual Laws (Baptist) as salvation efforts. ?
78 The reason your church exists is to fulfill God’s mission to seek and save the lost.
81 Author claims people need to see Jesus as an option. That many people don’t like him.
82 Evangelism as aggressor / defender, to intellectually beet the person into submission - doesn’t feel good for either side. A better, more biblical way is the role of spiritual guide. Like Philip and Nathaniel John 1:43-51.
83 A soul friend / spiritual guide is curious about what’s happening in the life of the other. Asks questions. Listens attentively. Sees the work of God in the life of the other and brings that work into the light so they can see how deeply God is engaged with them.
Spiritual conversations with someone about Jesus. It’s scary. We don’t have much experience, and our church probably doesn’t talk about it. If we are going to reach new people with the good news of Jesus, we need to learn how to start healthy spiritual conversations with them.
Three-question conversation: 1) The polite question. How are you doing? 2) The interest question. Do you shop here often? Which child is yours? 3) The caring question. First share something about yourself. This establishes you as a safe person. Make your caring question about feelings. Do you feel good about…?
85 You may hear intimate details about their life. When people sense you are offering a safe place for conversation, many will jump at it.
Invite them to continue the conversation with you. “I’d love to hear more of you personal story. Coffee?”
You’ve made the offer. Offer your cell number. Maybe touch base next week? Ask for their number. Thank them.
86 Spiritual diagnosis – Why are they not yet a believer? 1 Intelectual, 2 Lifestyle doesn’t allow it, 3 Oppression (dependencies, addiction, traumas) 4 Bad Experiences (accidents, illness, deaths, or with bad Christians 5 No Knowledge
89 Spiritual Journey Napkin – X (not interested), ? (curious), Bible (seeking), Cross, Forward Arrow (following), Up Arrow (growing). Draw it. Ask “Where do you see yourself”. Mark it. “Where would you like to be in 6 months?” “What is stopping you?” “How can I help?” Always leave the conversation with an open invitation for next step.
91 When your church is evangelistic you will see God at work. One friend began her journey saying she had never seen God in her life. A year later in tears she related multiple amazing moments when now, through lens of belief, she saw God at work in her life. Evangelistic churches hear and experience these stories over and over.
92 When a new person becomes a Christian they typically will lead you to two or three other people who might also become new Christians. New growth produces more new growth!
98 Kindness and service become servant evangelism when we deliberately attach a message of faith to our actions.
99 Make sure you communicate your church when serving. Leave contact cards.
The work a church does in a community softens the hearts and attitudes of unbelievers they meet.
Servant evangelism gets us outside our building where we can meet people, deliberately with purpose. One church ran a face painting booth with free balloons at every farmers market. While one person painted faces, another spoke with parents spiritually and completed contact cards to receive more info. That church grew from this one, repeated activity. Renovo church in Puyallup WA.
100 Where do the people we want to reach gather? {sports) Go there. 1) Do their things in their places. Take an inventory of what is happening in your neighborhood, What events are happening in schools? Go to the events and join in. A guest in their space. Play by their rules. Shows respect and builds trust.
2) Do their things in our “places”. Things they’re already doing, but now we organize it. Take the load off them. You’ll get to know those who have been working the activities, and those you ask to serve with you. Golden opportunities to invite people to serve. To come help do something good for people.
3) Do our things in our places. Our picnics, fellowships, worship services. When people take this third step we should be comfortable engaging them in spiritual talks. By joining you in doing things in your places they are giving you explicit permission to share faith with them.
106 We are constantly loving, inviting, and encouraging those who do not follow Jesus to join us and enter this life changing relationship with God. Mature disciples produce good fruit.
110 House church, where children play while adults visit, share a meal, a time of prayer, study, singing. Open for new participants, open ended time-wise. Some last for years.
Discipleship groups are usually gender specific. Personal accountability. Living well. Growing in the Word. Accountability questions and in-depth study. Last for a season, six months or a year. Membership usually closed until a new group forms.
111 We must structure our meeting schedule to include some kind of house church in it. How’s the Sunday AM, PM Wed PM working for you? Few churches sustain it. Maybe a house church on Sunday PM or Wed PM.
Four Components: 1) Fresh Bread. From God’s Word. Try the Discover Bible Study (DBS). No prep. Hear God for themselves, talk about what they’re hearing. a) read, reread, retell. Read it. Someone else different version. Someone else retells in own words. Then these questions. b) God is… What do we learn about God? c) We are… What do we learn about people? d) I will… How will I put this into practice? e) Someone… Who do I know who needs to hear this?
112 2) Shared Meals. Eating together is the best ice-breaker. 3) Mutual Care. Specific time of sharing for prayer. 4) Missional Eyes. Look out for opportunities for your group to serve others. At least quarterly.
130 Must have good signage in your church. Thet directs / orients visitors.
Prayer Walk – Get your church walking on selected streets. To pray for the people. To look around and find needs. How can we serve? How can we join in? Debrief them.
133 Big Days. Times when the church puts on a push to invite family, friends co-workers, neighbors. A friends and neighbors day. 1) It gives the church a reason to become inviters. 2) It helps build your database.
136 The Alpha Course, an 11-week small group experience, well packaged and broadly used. Ongoing and repeatable. (Presbyterian/Charismatic)
People need small group connections to thrive spiritually. To feel connected and needed. Stickiness. New people are far more likely to to stick in a small group. Secret sauce -> eating together.
137 You won’t grow much if you wait for people to stumble into your building. You must be seeking them. New connections – the people you add to your database. Aim for 500/yr.
Easy invite opportunities – worship gatherings and service events.
July 6, 2022
Excellent Resources for Churches that are Plateaued, Stuck, or Delining
In this very accessible resource, Dr. Granberg does a great job of helping church leaders understand the lifecycle of churches and given them practical tools to determine what faithfulness looks like at each stage. For churches who have been in decline and need hope and direction, this can be just what they need. Congregations don’t live forever, but the kingdom of God does. Dr. Granberg helps us reframe the mission of the church around God’s purpose and find creatives ways to expand the kingdom. If that means renewing our congregation, great. But, that is hardly the only way to be faithful. I’ll be recommending this book to church leaders routinely and am glad for the helpful resource. — Dr. Dan Bouchelle, President of Mission Resource Network.
In this very accessible resource, Dr. Granberg does a great job of helping church leaders understand the lifecycle of churches and given them practical tools to determine what faithfulness looks like at each stage. For churches who have been in decline and need hope and direction, this can be just what they need. Congregations don’t live forever, but the kingdom of God does. Dr. Granberg helps us reframe the mission of the church around God’s purpose and find creatives ways to expand the kingdom. If that means renewing our congregation, great. But, that is hardly the only way to be faithful. I’ll be recommending this book to church leaders routinely and am glad for the helpful resource. — Dr. Dan Bouchelle, President of Mission Resource Network.
October 30, 2022
A good book that would probably be better if it was read and discussed in a group setting. There are some insightful statistics and thoughts, and it was nice to read something from a CoC perspective for a change.
January 18, 2023
Exceptional!
Written by and for the faithful. The most relevant and practical work, on present and future churches of Christ in this country. The times, they are a'changin!
God bless
Written by and for the faithful. The most relevant and practical work, on present and future churches of Christ in this country. The times, they are a'changin!
God bless
January 11, 2023
Incredibly helpful for church leadership teams who find themselves facing congregational decline.
April 18, 2023
While it was a little depressing, especially the first half, it has some good points. Written from a Church of Christ perspective so it is narrowly focused, the points can apply to any local church.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews