Navigating Ministry Trends in 2024: Insights, Strategies, and Transformative Growth

What does the data show about current trends and changes in ministry? At Servant Keeper, we asked ourselves that question and then set to finding answers for today and the coming year. Take a look at 5 trends we found in our research. Then read on to learn the practical steps other ministries are taking and that your ministry can apply to be ready to serve and reach others well in your ministry and in your community for years to come.

Trend 1: The Resonance of Online Giving — Online giving is having a bigger positive impact than ever before on churches.

Over the past three years, online giving has surged by an impressive 42%, jumping from a median of $120,000 in 2020 to $170,000 in 2023. Far from plateauing, online giving continues to become a more widely used tool of the modern ministry experience.

Practical application: Embrace Online Giving Platforms with Seamless Integration
For ministries wanting to serve their members better, and provide them an easier way to give from anywhere at any time, the adoption of online giving platforms is necessary.

Navigating the Practical Steps:

1. Evaluate Current Giving Methods: If you’re still deciding if you should use online giving, start here. Ask yourself, questions that will help you identify times when online giving might help people stay faithful in their tithing. For example, are there times when people in your congregation can not make it to church, or are there people who travel or are out frequently for a season? Ask yourself and others in your congregation if they’re using automatic or online banking and payments in other areas of their lives? Ask yourself if there are ever special events or special fundraising efforts where people might choose to give, if only they hand brought some cash or a check with them. As you consider these questions, it may help you see how helpful online giving can be for your ministry.

2. Implement User-Friendly Platforms: Choose an online giving platform that is not just user-friendly and secure but tailored to the unique needs of your church. Servant Keeper’s platform provides ease of use and a suite of features designed for ministry-specific requirements.For example, you can customize it to your ministry, and keep the focus on the heart of giving. You can set it up to collect for multiple funds. You can automate follow up, and track the giving alongside their other tithes and offerings.

3. Promote Online Giving: Actively promote online giving through various channels—your website, emails, social media, and church bulletins. Consider personalized communication to highlight the impact of online giving on the ministry.

4. Provide Guidance: Offer step-by-step guidance for congregants unfamiliar with online giving. Share instructional materials to demystify the process.

5. Feedback Mechanism: Establish a feedback mechanism to continually refine the online giving experience. Encourage congregants to share their thoughts and address any concerns promptly.

Trend 2: Some churches are declining, but there is an overall growth trend for churches right now. And new attendees are up.

Median attendance at local congregations was at 60 people as of spring 2023, down slightly from 65 in spring 2020— a decline of 9 percent.
About half of churches surveyed have experienced some level of decline, some more severe than others.
However, on the flip side about 1 in 4 congregations surveyed experienced significant growth.
And finally, here’s some good news for everyone: Researchers also found that 16 percent of attendees were new in 2023, up from 5 percent in 2020.

Whether you’re seeing a decline right now, or growth, you’re not alone. There is an opportunity for either camp. With nearly 25% of churches seeing significant growth, there is presumably room for your ministry to grow. So start with that mindset, and focus on finding those people who are looking for a ministry.

Practical Steps to Navigate Growth:

1. Website Enhancement: Evaluate your current website and consider enhancements to make it more welcoming and informative. Incorporate a clean design, clear navigation, and engaging content. Utilize platforms like Servant Keeper’s website solution to create a virtual welcome gateway. Ensure it includes essential information about your ministry, upcoming events, and ways to connect.

2. Improve and increase your communication with members and visitors alike: Leverage communication tools, such as email and text messaging, to stay connected with both existing members and potential newcomers. Regularly share updates, event invitations, and inspirational messages.

3. Visitor Follow-Up: Establish a robust visitor follow-up system. Assign individuals or teams to personally connect with new attendees, express gratitude for their visit, and provide information about upcoming events or small group opportunities.

Trend 3: Confronting Ministry Burnout — Pastors and clergy are tired and are feeling a pull to leave their ministries.

The data on this is a little sobering.
In 2021, most clergy (79 percent) said they had never thought about leaving their current church. However, In 2023, the number who never thought about leaving had dropped by 17 percent to 62 percent.
As for leaving the ministry altogether, two-thirds of clergy said in 2021 that they had never thought about doing so. In 2023, only 49 percent said they never thought about leaving.

This speaks volumes to the fact that pastors, clergy, and other church leaders need more support. You’re exhausted. And if you aren’t personally, someone on your team or your friend in ministry most likely is.

You need prayer. You need someone going into battle for you in prayer that God will renew your strength. That you don’t grow tired of doing good (as hard as that may be sometimes).

You may need to retreat. If possible at all, ask the other leaders at your church to prayerfully consider letting you and your spouse step away for a while (either just to go to a ministry retreat, or even to go on a sabbatical if necessary). There are a number of organizations out there, where people will pay for leaders to go to get away. Remember, even Jesus retreated at times from the crowds. It’s not a sign of weakness. It’s a sign of accepting that you’re human, and sometimes need rest.

Detailed Steps for Navigating Ministry Burnout:

1. Self-Reflection: Initiate a culture of self-reflection within leadership. Encourage leaders to assess their well-being regularly and openly discuss challenges.

2. Retreat Planning: Plan and schedule regular retreats for leaders. These retreats can be an opportunity for reflection, rejuvenation, and team-building.

3. Community Building: Foster a supportive community within your ministry. Create forums for leaders to share their experiences, challenges, and triumphs. Establish mentorship programs for mutual support.

4. A Focus on Your Personal Walk: Emphasize the importance of spiritual renewal. Encourage leaders to prioritize personal prayer and their own personal walk with the Lord.

5. Professional Assistance: Recognize when professional assistance is needed. Provide resources and access to counseling services for leaders facing significant challenges or burnout.

Trend 4: Congregants are more invested in and optimistic about their churches this year, and are finding more unity with leaders and one another.

Volunteerism is bouncing back, with congregations reporting that a third of their members volunteer regularly, up from 15 % in 2021 and 20 percent in 2022. And 81% of survey congregants said they were very positive about the future of their ministry.

With this trend, there is a lot of opportunity to strike while the iron is hot so to speak. So here are 6 ways you could respond to or prepare for this rise in volunteerism and optimism.

First, with volunteerism going up, now is a great time to lean into that. Push a little harder to get people involved. Find the people in your ministry who have been attending and/or members for a while but aren’t serving, and brainstorm ways for them to serve. And ask them to serve too! Directly invite them. Don’t just give a general call from the stage during announcements. Many people feel unequipped or like they aren’t the best person for the job. Sometimes all they need is a personal invitation and some encouragement.

Second, remove any friction around serving. Let’s take leading a small group as an example. Equip your small group leaders with helpful resources. Reduce your small group leaders’ load, by also appointing someone for each small group to be responsible for hosting. Put tools in their hands for taking attendance and communicating with their small group members. One for example could be Servant Keeper’s attendance app. That’s just one example, but pick any area of service and look for ways to lighten the load and ways to get more people involved.

Third, give people more opportunities to serve in the ways they’re gifted and want to serve. Keep a list of everyone’s gifts, talents, and past ways they’ve served. Then when a need arises, you’ll have your own church “yellow pages” if you will. You can track this all in a notebook, or an excel spreadsheet. Or you can let Servant Keeper track it so it’s easily searchable and always up to date since users can update this on their own.

Fourth, with conflict down and a feeling of unity being up, focus on building even more relationships – encourage discipleship and encourage others to consider training for leadership. We have a very easy way inside Servant Keeper to track all these relationships and more. Track these relationships for the purpose of watching how they help to contribute to greater spiritual growth, or to see where these relationships have room to grow.

Fifth, with people feeling more positive about the future of ministry, now might be a great time to ask people to make investments (both big or small) in the future of your ministry. Have you been waiting for the right time to raise money for a needed building project, or bigger outreach, or new ministry effort? Prayerfully consider if now is the time, and encourage people to give towards the future growth of the Kingdom and to reach new areas of your community through an effective pledge campaign.

Finally, if members are feeling very optimistic about the future of your ministry, find more ways to stay in communication with them and keep that optimism going. Build out more groups to email about specific areas of your ministry, or send exciting updates via text messages.

Trend 5: Adapting to Changing Beliefs and Generations — The face of your church may be changing. In some ways for the better, and in other ways you may need to address.

Don’t read this as needing to change your core beliefs. But it is a call to find ways to love people who look different than the current population of your church. And it’s also a call to be prepared to answer in love, with questions and challenges you may have never faced before.

The increase in the growth of diversity in congregations will be its greatest ever in 2023. Millennials see a monocultural generation as out-of-touch. Gen Z cannot imagine anything monocultural, especially a church. What does this mean. It means to be “fishers of men” in new places. Be ready to do outreach in new places and new ways because there are people who your church could serve in places that you’re not at today.

Secondly, based on a biennial survey of U.S. adults, some beliefs about God and the Bible that were once considered foundational or widely held amongst those who don’t worship anywhere are shifting dramatically.

What do we do with data like this?
First of all, pray. Begin praying for the unreached around you. And those who may have less than positive feelings about ministry in general. Ask God for opportunities to reach and serve and love them well. Be ready to speak to and reach more people who maybe feel they have been hurt by the church, or who don’t share your belief, and be ready to love them.

Secondly, keep in mind that you need to equip those around you to serve and love too. Consider doing sermons on loving well. And model what that looks like in daily life. Encourage discipleship classes so people know how to go out and reach others they come in contact with.

Thirdly, study the people you’re trying to reach. Know your community, or your “mission field” if you will. Seek to find what needs are most pressing in your community. Is it single working moms who need a place they can trust to take care of their children? Maybe you need to start a daycare. Maybe there is a lot of grief in your area over recent events and losses (for example if you’re in an area where there’s been a major storm, or a rise of crime, or your community has been hit hard by illness). Consider starting a grief ministry. Maybe there is no help at your local hospital for people who lose loved ones. See if your ministry can put together care packages and resources for those who face loss. Find those wounds and needs that aren’t being met, and meet them. And as you do outreach to your community, and you’re serving more diverse groups of people with diverse ways of thinking, get to know them and details about their lives (areas where you may be able to help and serve). Track all these details as notes and touchpoints so that you can truly meet people where they’re at, and love and serve them well.

In conclusion, the trends in ministry for 2024 present not only challenges but incredible opportunities for growth, connection, and service. Servant Keeper stands steadfast in its commitment to supporting ministries through these transitions. As you navigate these trends, remember that you’re not alone. Let’s embrace the opportunities that 2024 brings, confident in our ability to increase ministry impact.