1. The State of the Church in Massachusetts 1990-2000
Dave Olson
© 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use

2. © 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use
This is a Sample Presentation It’s purpose is to give you an idea of what is happening to the Christian church in Massachusetts, and what the complete “State of the Church in Massachusetts” Powerpoint looks like. The goal is to encourage pastors and church lay leaders to view and discuss together the missional challenges in Massachusetts that the Church faces. The complete Powerpoint is $14.95 and is available for immediate download at
© 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use

3. © 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use
In 1996,
polls taken immediately after the Presidential election revealed that 58% of people claimed they had voted, when in reality only 49% actually did. This is called the Halo Effect. People tend to over-inflate their participation in activities that create acceptability within their social group.
For many decades, pollsters such as Gallup and Barna have reported that around 45% of Americans attend church every Sunday. But there is a religious Halo Effect. Actual attendance counts have shown that the percentage of people attending church on any given weekend is much lower than was previously thought.
© 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use

4. © 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use
The Intent
of this presentation is to answer and then expand on two key questions:
“How Many People Really Attend Church in Massachusetts Every Week?”
“Is the Christian Church Going Forwards or Backwards in Influence in Massachusetts?”
As the data is analyzed county by county assessing a number of factors, a comprehensive picture of the State of the Church in Massachusetts will begin to take shape.
© 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use

5. © 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use
This study
uses weekend church attendance as a more reliable and more immediate snapshot of Christian influence than membership. The following map shows the percentage of the population attending a Christian church on any given weekend in all 50 states in Massachusetts has an average church attendance percentage (14.4%) lower than the national average (18.7%).
© 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use

6. © 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use

7. © 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use
The Next Map
shows the percentage of the population attending a Christian church on any given weekend in 2000 for each county in Massachusetts. The southern coastal counties have the lowest church attendance.
© 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use

8. © 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use
Massachusetts Counties
Percentage of Population at
Worship in Christian Churches
on any Given Weekend
Blue = Lowest
Rose = Middle
Beige = Highest
8.0%
Hampshire
9.4%
Barnstable
9.7%
Nantucket
12.3%
Bristol
12.6%
Worcester
13.5%
Plymouth
Middlesex
14.5%
Essex
15.0%
Berkshire
15.7%
Hampden
16.5%
Suffolk
16.8%
Franklin
17.3%
Norfolk
17.7%
Dukes
0.0% to 13.5%
13.5% to 16.5%
16.5% to 18.7%
© 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use

9. © 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use
The Next 2 Maps
show the population numbers for each county in Massachusetts. The first map shows the population of each county. The second map shows the growth or decline in population for each county from
© 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use

10. Massachusetts Counties
2000 Population
9,520
Nantucket
14,987
Dukes
71,535
Franklin
134,953
Berkshire
152,251
Hampshire
222,230
Barnstable
456,228
Hampden
472,822
Plymouth
534,678
Bristol
650,308
Norfolk
689,807
Suffolk
723,419
Essex
750,963
Worcester
1,465,396
Middlesex
0 to 222,230
222,230 to 689,807
689,807 to 1,465,397

11. Complete Presentation has Map of 2000 Population Growth for Each County

12. © 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use
The Next 2 Slides
show the ethnicity of Massachusetts in 1990 and The third slide shows the growth or decline in the percentage of the population for each ethnic group.
© 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use

13. © 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use

14. Complete Presentation has Graph of 2000 Ethnicity

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16. © 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use
The Next Graph
shows the attendance numbers for the churches in Massachusetts in 1990 and Evangelicals have grown in attendance, while Mainline and Catholics churches have significantly declined. Unfortunately, as overall worship attendance has declined, the population has grown. A more reliable standard for evaluating increasing or declining influence is the percentage of the population attending church on any given weekend, shown in the second graph.
© 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use

17. © 2004 by David T. Olson

18. Complete Presentation has Graph of 1990 & 2000 Worship Percentage by Category

19. © 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use
The Next Graph
is a Pie graph visualizing the percentage of the population at churches in each category in The “Absent” category indicates the percentage of the population that is not worshipping at a Christian church on any given weekend. The second graph shows the percentage gain or decline for each category in Massachusetts in 1990 and 2000.
© 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use

20. © 2004 by David T. Olson

21. © 2004 by David T. Olson

22. © 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use
The 3 Next Charts
show the relative strength of the 8 major denominational groups in Massachusetts. The first chart illustrates the huge influence of the Catholic church. The second and third charts show the significant decline of denominations in Massachusetts, with the exception of the Pentecostal, Reformed and Lutheran churches.
© 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use

23. Complete Presentation has Pie Chart of 2000 Attendance by Denominational Families

24. Complete Presentation has Bar Graph of 1990 & 2000 Attendance by Denominational Families

26. © 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use
The Next Chart
shows the 1990 & 2000 average church attendance by group for both this state and the nation. The second chart shows the 1990 & 2000 population per church for this state and the nation. Among states in 2000, Arkansas has the lowest population per church with 411 people per church, Utah is the highest at 4,586 people per church.
© 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use

27. © 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use

28. Complete Presentation has Bar Graph of 1990 & 2000 Population per Church for State and Nation

29. © 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use
The Next 3 Maps
show the attendance percentages for the Evangelical, Catholic and Mainline churches in each county in Massachusetts in 2000.
© 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use

30. Complete Presentation has State Map of 2000 Evangelical Attendance Percentage for each County

31. Complete Presentation has State Map of 2000 Mainline Attendance Percentage for each County

32. Massachusetts Counties
Percentage of Population at
Worship in Catholic Churches on a
Given Weekend
Blue = Lowest
Rose = Middle
Beige = Highest
3.4%
Nantucket
4.5%
Hampshire
4.6%
Barnstable
6.7%
Worcester
7.0%
Plymouth
7.3%
Suffolk
8.1%
Essex
Bristol
8.8%
Middlesex
9.5%
Norfolk
10.1%
Berkshire
10.2%
Hampden
10.8%
Dukes
11.4%
Franklin
0.0% to 7.3%
7.3% to 10.1%
10.1% to 12.4%

33. © 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use
The Next Map
shows the growth or decline in the percentage of the population attending a Christian church on any given weekend from 1990 to 2000 for each county. 1 county grew in attendance percentage, while 13 counties declined.
© 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use

34. Complete Presentation has State Map of Christian Church Attendance Percentage Increase or Decline for each County

35. © 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use
The Next 3 Maps
show the growth or decline of attendance percentages for the Evangelical, Catholic and Mainline churches in each county in Massachusetts between 1990 and For evangelicals, 11 counties grew in attendance percentage, while 2 counties declined. For mainline churches, all 14 counties declined. For Catholics, 2 counties grew in attendance percentage, while 12 counties declined.
© 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use

36. Complete Presentation has State Map of Evangelical Attendance Percentage Increase or Decline for each County

37. Complete Presentation has State Map of Mainline Attendance Percentage Increase or Decline for each County

38. Massachusetts Counties 1990 - 2000 Growth or Decline in Percentage
of the Population at Worship in Catholic
Churches on a Given Weekend
Blue = Decline
Rose = Growth
-70.2%
Nantucket
-61.8%
Hampshire
-57.5%
Barnstable
-39.1%
Franklin
-37.0%
Berkshire
-36.5%
Worcester
-26.7%
Bristol
-19.8%
Plymouth
-19.3%
Essex
-17.5%
Norfolk
-16.9%
Middlesex
-16.2%
Suffolk
9.3%
Dukes
16.9%
Hampden
Decline
Growth

39. © 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use
The Final Chart
shows the net gain in the number of churches in Massachusetts in the past decade. There was a net gain of 52 churches. However, 179 churches were needed to keep up with population growth from
© 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use

40. © 2004 by David T. Olson

41. The State of the Church in Massachusetts . . .
Because of the traditionally strong Catholic influence in Massachusetts, overall church attendance is suffering as a result of the decline in Catholic attendance.
Church attendance has grown for Evangelicals both numerically and in the percentage of the population attending a Evangelical church (an increase of 8%). A significant factor in the growth of the Evangelical church is the net gain of 157 churches over the last decade.
The percentage of the population attending church has decreased, resulting in a 17% loss in the state-wide percentage of the population that attended church between 1990 and 2000.
A major factor in the overall decline is the insufficient net gain in the number of churches in Massachusetts. One hundred and twenty-seven additional churches needed to have been started in the previous decade to compensate for the decline in percentage attendance.
© 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use

42. © 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use
For More Information . . .
Please go to for additional information on the American Church.
12 Surprising Facts about the American Church is available at
The complete Massachusetts Powerpoint presentation is available at
The Complete Boston Powerpoint presentation is available at
A Combo Pack (12 Surprising Facts, Massachusetts and Boston Powerpoints) is available at
© 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use

43. Information on the Information
The spiritual health of churches is multifaceted, and is obviously much more complex than an attendance trend can portray. However, following the example of St. Luke in the Book of Acts, who used the number of people who showed up at various events as a sign documenting the health and growth of the early church, I would suggest that attendance is the single most helpful indicator of health, growth and decline.
Information has been compiled only for orthodox Christian groups – Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox. The Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Unitarian-Universalists and the International Churches of Christ have not been included. In addition, information about non-Christian groups has not been compiled.
African American denominations publish very little that is statistical – often not even a list of current churches. This study used data from the 1990 Glenmary study on Black Baptist estimates and AME Zion churches, the average African American worship attendance (from the Barna Research Group), and a statistical model based on the population of African Americans in each county in 1990 and These were combined to come up with as accurate an estimate as possible.
Independent church data is almost impossible to obtain. (There are actually fewer totally independent churches than is assumed. Most are part of some voluntary association, which typically keeps some records.) Data from the 1990 & 2000 Glenmary study on larger Independent churches (limited to over 300 in attendance) was used along with a statistical model to estimate the attendance at smaller independent churches.
In Catholic churches, the definition of what constitutes membership varies with diocese and church, making numbers sometimes inconsistent from state to state and county to county. In addition to actual mass counts from 1/3rd of Catholic parishes, membership information has been merged with attendance patterns from similar dioceses based on the size of the diocese and the region in which it is located.
Orthodox Churches are included in Totals, but not included as a separate group because of smallness of size nationwide. Division into Evangelical and Mainline categories is based on the division by the Glenmary Study.
This study only looks at how many people attend a Christian church on any given Sunday. The term ‘regular attender’ can be designated to mean someone who attends a Christian church on a consistent basis. Using a simple definition for ‘regular attender’ (attends at least 3 out of every 8 Sundays), between 23% and 25% of Americans would fit this category. Adding ‘regular attenders’ of non-orthodox christian churches and other religions to the totals would increase the percentage to 26% – 28%.
© 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use

44. © 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use
This Presentation
is based on a nationwide study of American church attendance, as reported by churches and denominations. The database currently has average worship attendances for each of the last 10 years for over 170,000 individual churches.
It also uses supplementary information (actual membership numbers correlated with accurate membership to attendance ratios) to project the attendances of all other denominational and independent churches. All told, accurate information is provided for all 300,000 orthodox Christian churches.1
1 This presentation looks only at people attending orthodox Christian churches. Approximately 3 million people attend non-orthodox Christian churches, and perhaps 3 million attend a religious service of another religion. Those ‘houses of worship’ would add another 35,000 churches in the United States and increase the 2000 percentage to 20.5%.
© 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use

45. © 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use
For More Information . . .
Presentations such as this are available for the largest 100 metropolitan areas, for each state and for the nation as a whole, as well as other presentations to show what is happening in the American church. Presentations are available either by direct download, CD or print. Please go to for ordering information.
To Contact Dave Olson, please him at
© 2004 by David T. Olson Sample - Not for Public Use