Rainer on Leadership Why Churches Are MUCH Older Now…
Mar 12, 2026
A look at why congregations are about a generation older than their surrounding communities. Discussion of how retirement shifts church life and outreach. Exploration of demographic tools to compare church and town. Conversation about racial diversity, denominational decline, and why simply hiring younger leadership does not fix deeper patterns.
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Josh Inherited A Retirement Age Congregation
- Josh King describes his current church as initially dominated by people over 65 and says they've become much younger in the last two years.
- He highlights age as a key characteristic he encountered when becoming pastor at Valley Ridge Church.
Churches Are A Generation Older Than Their Communities
- Most denominations have a median congregant age around 60 while the U.S. median age is ~39, creating a one-generation gap between churches and communities.
- Sam Rainer notes this gap means random churches are typically older than their surrounding population, signaling a demographic mismatch to track.
Know Your Community Demographics
- Use demographic reports to compare your church's median age to the community and identify mismatches.
- Sam Rainer points listeners to ChurchAnswers demographic reports to get local median-age data and context.
