Church construction in the U.S. has fallen 80% since 2002, now at its lowest level since record-keeping began in 1967, according to reporting in this newspaper. The $3.15 billion in spending on religious buildings is half the level of a decade ago. Several factors are contributing to the declines, including postrecession financial challengesâ??religious giving has never returned to its 2007 peakâ??and the waning of religious affiliation.
Yet even as church construction ebbs, church congregations are sprouting more rapidly than everâ??about 4,000 annually, according to estimates by the nonprofit Leadership Networkâ??s Warren Bird. Ed Stetzer, who has been studying the movement for 25 years and now directs LifeWay Research, estimates that growth has doubled or tripled in two decades. Most of these new congregations are renting facilities from schools, community centers or other churches.
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