Mission life: THE KUKMIN DAILY

One in Three Church Members: “I want to leave my church”

2016-11-29 10:23
The results of a recent survey show that one out of three Korean Christians wish to leave the church they are attending. Among all age groups, believers in their 30s showed the lowest attendance rate and the lowest devotion to their churches. Satisfaction with the church and the head pastor got a score of 66 on a scale of 100.

The 21st Century Church Research Institute at the Graduate School of Practical Theology and the Center for Korean Church Study announced the results of their joint survey, “A study on how lay members choose their churches and their satisfaction with church life,” on November 25 at the Korean Christian Building in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

From September 30 to October 5, the public opinion survey company JI & COM conducted an online survey of 500 Protestant Christians age twenty years old or older. To the question “Will you continue attending your current church?” 55.0% of the respondents answered “Yes,” but more than one third answered, “I think about leaving my church” (32.8%, “often” and “sometimes” combined). Reasons for considering departure from their churches were: lack of education and training (11.5%), problems with worship service (11.1%), and too much push for evangelization (10.9%).

61.3% answered that they will attend a different church if they leave the present one, while 22.1% answered they will not go to church anymore, but will remain Christian. Extrapolating the figures to Korean Protestants as a whole, this number indicates that approximately seven among 100 believers (nearly 7%) are potential “Canaan Christians” (Christians who do not go to church).

Prof. Jeong Jae-yeong (sociology of religion, GSPT) analyzed and explained the results: “Currently, estimated Canaan believers are about one million and the number continues to grow. Highly potential Canaan Christians are in the categories of male, blue collar employees, those attending a church with 51-100 members, and the group of elders, senior deacons, and ordained deacons.

Reporter Jaechan Park (jeep@kmib.co.kr), with Yeara Ahn-Park (yap@kmib.co.kr)


Full Story in Korean:
교인 3명 중 1명 “출석교회 떠나고 싶다”: 21세기교회연구소 등 500명에 설문

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