Church Planting in a Declining Church Culture
By America Kimlinger
I love Lifeway Research. I’ve been a subscriber for years, and their newsletters are one of the few I actually stop and read from start to finish. Their research always manages to put language and data around things many of us in ministry are already sensing but haven’t fully articulated yet.
One of their recent articles on discouraging trends in global Christianity for 2026 really struck because it put numbers to something many leaders are already navigating.
For decades, North America was viewed as a stronghold of Christianity, with churches on nearly every corner, Sunday routines built into the rhythm of life, and a general cultural familiarity with the Gospel. But that reality is shifting. According to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity, Christianity in North America is declining at approximately -0.16% annually.
On paper, that number looks small. In real life, it represents something much bigger: millions of disconnections from the local church over time.
And yet, after reading all 9 trends, I didn’t read it as the end of the story.
A New Mission Field at Home
The decline of Christianity in North America does not mean people are no longer searching for meaning, purpose, or truth. It means fewer people are finding those answers in traditional church settings.
In many communities, the church is no longer a shared cultural reference point. It has to be introduced, explained, and embodied in a way that makes sense to people who don’t already have a framework for it.
In many ways, North America is becoming one of the most significant mission fields in the world, not because the Gospel has changed, but because the culture around it has.
From Familiar Models to Fresh Expression
One of the consistent themes I’ve seen at ARC gatherings and Exponential conferences is the ongoing commitment to multiplication, and the honest wrestling with how the church shows up in different cultural contexts
That shift changes the posture of planting:
- less assumption of church familiarity
- more emphasis on relationship and presence
- more attention to how people actually gather in everyday life
- and a deeper focus on discipleship that forms outside of Sunday alone
Communicating the Gospel in fresh, accessible ways
Building communities that reflect authenticity over tradition
It requires reimagining what church planting looks like in a new cultural moment.
And what I find most encouraging is that it’s already happening.
We’re seeing new expressions of church taking root across North America—not as replacements for the local church, but as new ways the church is present:
- house churches and micro-churches
- digital communities
- churches gathering in workplaces, schools, and shared spaces
These expressions meet people where they are, rather than expecting people to first come to where the church has always been.
Why Church Planting Still Matters
If fewer people are walking into church buildings, the answer isn’t to slow down church planting; it’s to lean into it with greater conviction.
Church plants are needed now more than ever. They are the most flexible, responsive, and culturally aware expressions of the church. They are uniquely positioned to:
- reach people who have never had a church experience
- reconnect those who have walked away quietly over time
- create spaces where faith feels accessible, not assumed
The need has not diminished. If anything, it has become more urgent.
A Defining Moment for the Church
North America is not “post-church.” What we’re seeing is not that people are less spiritual; it’s that the pathways to spiritual community have changed, and that is a different chapter.
This moment is calling for church planters who are willing to hold two things at the same time: the truth of decline and the belief in opportunity, not as tension to resolve, but as a reality to step into.
It requires courage. It requires creativity. And it requires a renewed commitment to mission.
Because the mission hasn’t changed, but the context has.
And in that shift, church planting is still the clearest way the church can continue to move toward people rather than waiting for people to come to it.
The call is still there. The question is whether we will answer.
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