In the same issue of Outreach, Vaughan wrote: “While U.S. mega churches are growing larger and faster, some researchers believe the American church as a whole is actually in decline. According to ‘The American Church Research Project,’ statistics for actual counts of people in attendance show that on any given weekend in 2000 only 18.7 percent (52.5 million) of the U.S. population (282 million in 2000) attended a Christian church—down from 20.4 percent in 1990 www.theamericanchurch.org. That figure in 2003 was only 18 percent.”

Each year, the U.S. suffers a net loss of 2,400 churches, says the interdenominational group Vision USA. They note that one of the problems is that no churches are being built in many of the subdivisions and commercial areas of high-growth cities. . . .

Barna is not alone in his predictions. In Leadership's weblog, Out of Ur, the Rev. Dave Terpstra suggests that churches simply can't serve the spiritual needs of believers once they reach a certain stage of development. Thus, believers will distance themselves from church institutions once those groups cannot provide the resources that can aid their growth. Although Terpstra, unlike Barna, does not think these believers will stay alienated forever, he does claim that such "churchless" spiritual growth should be encouraged when it is found. . . .