The formation of small companies as a basis of Christian effort is a plan that has been presented before me by One who cannot err. If there is a large number in the church, let the members be formed into small companies, to work not only for the church members but for unbelievers also (Ellen G. White, Australasian Union Conference Record, August 15, 1902).
In 2018, the Global Church Member Survey asked members how often in the previous 12 months they had attended a small group meeting organized through their church: 18.7% said that they had never attended; 12.1%, only once or twice; 8.2%, at least once a quarter; 9.5%, once a month; 15.9%, almost every week; 25.5%, every week; and 10.2% had attended more than once a week.
Overall, 39% had either never attended a small group meeting or had attended no more often than once a quarter. In comparison, 61% of church members had attended a small group meeting at their church at least once a month, with most attending every week or more.
GCMS 2018 and GCMS 2023: Church small group attendance in the last 12 months.
When the same question was posed to members by the GCMS 2023, a much higher proportion than in 2018, 28.7%, said they had never attended a small group meeting; 11.4%, only once or twice; 6.8%, at least once a quarter; 7.6%, once a month; 14%, almost every week; 23%, every week; and 8.5% had attended a small group meeting more than once a week.
The number of members who had not attended a small group meeting in the previous 12 months increased by 10% since 2018. Overall, the percentage of members who had either never attended a small group meeting or had attended no more often than once a quarter increased from 39% in 2018 to 47% in 2023, while the percentage of church members who had attended a small group meeting at their church at least once a month, fell from 61% to 53%.
When asked in 2018 specifically about attendance at prayer meeting at the local church, 14.5% said that they had never attended; 13.2%, only once or twice; 9.1%, at least once a quarter; 8.3%, once a month; 16.8%, almost every week, 25.5%, every week; and 12.7% had attended prayer meeting more than once a week.
Overall, just under 37% had attended prayer meeting at church less than once a quarter, if at all. In comparison, just over 63% had attended at least once a month, with most attending every week.
GCMS 2018 and 2023: Frequency of attending a prayer meeting at my local church in the last 12 months
When the GCMS asked members in 2023 how often they had attended prayer meeting at their local church, 20% said they had never attended; 12.3%, only once or twice; 8.7%, at least once a quarter; 8.2%, once a month; 15.4%, almost every week; 23.8%, every week; and 11.6% had attended more than once a week.
The greatest change in the five years between 2018 and 2023 was that the number of members who had never attended prayer meeting increased from 14.5% to 20%. Overall, those members who had attended prayer meeting only once a quarter made up 41%, up slightly from 37%, and those who had attended at least once a month made up 59%, down slightly from 63%.
The final question in the Global Church Member Survey asked members how often they had morning or evening worship with members of their families.
In 2018, 21.5% of members never had morning or evening worship with their family; 12.6%, less than once a month; 12.3%, about once a week; 16.5%, more than once a week; and 37.1% had worship daily or more than once a day.
This meant that 34% of members had worship with their family less than once a month, if at all, while 66% had worship with their family around once a week or more often, with most having it daily or more than once a day.
GCMS 2018 and 2023: How often do I have morning or evening worship with my family?
In 2023, 17.8% of members never had family worship; 7.6% less than once a month; 8.6% responded to the new category of “once or a few times a month”; 8.8% said about once a week; 16.9% more than once a week; and 40.2% daily or more than once a day.
Unlike the first two questions we looked at above, the percentage of people who never worship with their family decreased from 21.5% to 17.8%, while the percentage of people who had worship daily or more than once a day increased from 37.1% to 40.2%.
We can see that attendance at small group meetings at local churches decreased during the five years between the surveys. These trends may reflect the lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic in which people stopped meeting with their church fellows to avoid the spread of illness and found it hard to pick up the habit of going out again once it was safe to do so. We should encourage our churches to reach out to members to invite them back into the small groups that are important both for the mission of the church and for the members themselves.
Interestingly, the survey revealed that more members are now engaging in family worship at home compared to the period before the pandemic. Mrs. White wrote:
In every family there should be a fixed time for morning and evening worship. How appropriate it is for parents to gather their children about them before the fast is broken, to thank the heavenly Father for His protection during the night, and to ask Him for His help and guidance and watch care during the day! How fitting, also, when evening comes, for parents and children to gather once more before Him and thank Him for the blessings of the day that is past! (Ellen G. White, Child Guidance, 520)
How lovely to know that more families are taking this to heart and worshiping together regularly.
You can access the full report here.
Created in collaboration with the Institute of Church Ministry.
Published by ASTR on 1/28/2025.