The State of the Church Today

Was Jesus wrong? At Caesarea Philippi Jesus told his disciples, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). It might feel like Jesus was mistaken when we read a study that says the share of Americans who attend church regularly is now less than one-in-four, while the share who never attend has increased by eight percentage points — just since 2018.¹

Moreover, the last decade has seen more young adults in particular leave organized religions than any time before. In terms of the church in the U.S., “The share of practicing Christians has nearly dropped in half since 2000.”²

In fewer than 50 years, Christianity will likely no longer be the majority religion in the United States.³ Without a doubt, Christianity is on the decline in our country. But is the church of Jesus Christ losing the war? No. And it’s not even close. While things might currently look bleak for us Christians in the West, Christianity is thriving in other parts of the world.

The Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary’s most recent report demonstrates that global Christianity is experiencing remarkable growth, defying expectations and surpassing population rates.⁴

Here are six reasons we can be hopeful about the future of the church.

1. The church is big and growing

Christianity is the world’s largest religion with more than 2.6 billion adherents worldwide and it’s expanding at a rate faster than the population. From 2020 to the mid-point of 2024, the world’s population is expected to grow from more than 7.84 billion people to more than 8.11 billion, a 0.87% growth trend. The number of Christians worldwide is expected to climb from more than 2.52 billion to 2.63 billion, a 1.08% growth. The Christian population is projected to top 3 billion before 2050.⁵

The number of Christians in the world has more than doubled in the last 50 years, but most of that growth has taken place in the Global South, with Africa and Asia emerging as the fastest-growing regions. Africa has seen exponential growth, having fewer than 10 million Christians at the turn of the 20th century to now being home to 734 million Christians, growing at a rate of 2.64 percent. By 2050, Africa is projected to have more Christians than Asia and Latin America combined.

Catholics remain the largest Christian group with almost 1.26 billion adherents, but the two fastest growing Christian groups around the world are evangelicals (1.8 percent growth rate) and charismatics (1.88 percent). Advent Christians are a part of this great harvest in Africa and Asia. One example of this great harvest among our churches was the 57 people who braved crocodile infested waters to follow Jesus in baptism this past Easter Sunday.

2. Atheism is shrinking

It may not seem like it in America, but the rest of the world is becoming more religious, not less. A 2015 Pew Research study also predicts the number of the religiously unaffiliated will shrink in terms of the share of global population. The populations of all religions are growing at a 1.27 percent rate, but the growth rate of the religiously unaffiliated is less than half that. In particular, atheism is almost stagnant, growing only 0.18 percent per year. According to the Gordon-Conwell report, there are fewer atheists around the world today (147 million) than in 1970 (165 million), with the number expected to continue declining through 2050.⁶

3. The church is growing in hard places

The church is even growing in places that have historically been, and even still are, hostile to Christianity. In these places, the church really is facing “the gates of hell.” It’s tricky to get precise numbers as many Christians are forced to hide their faith and worship in secret in these nations, but it seems clear that the church is growing even in these rocky and barren fields.

The church in China has seen exponential growth over the last 50 years despite severe government oppression and persecution. There were approximately 3.5 million Christians in China in 1949. While it’s difficult to know the number of believers in China for sure, Asia Harvest, a Christian ministry that works to expand the number of churches in Asia, estimates that there are almost 130 million Christians in China and that number is growing. If this is accurate, it means there are more Christians than members of the Communist Party in Communist China.⁷

One of the fastest growing expansions of the church is in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Operation World (operationworld.org) states there were only 500 Muslim-background believers in Iran in 1979.⁸ In a 2020 survey, Gamaan, a secular Netherlands-based research group, reported that there are far greater numbers of Christian believers in Iran than ever before — more than a million. In fact, those involved with the “house church” movement in Iran are convinced that there are likely several million Christian believers there.⁹ One missiologist speculated that more Persians have come to faith in Christ in the last 100 years than in the previous 1,900 combined.

Advent Christians are also seeing great harvests in hard places. Our pastors in Myanmar continue to plant evangelize, baptize, plant churches and care for orphans despite an oppressive authoritarian government and an increasingly brutal civil war. India is now the largest country in the world with more than 1.4 billion people and is ruled by a very pro-Hindu government that places great restraints on Christians. For instance, one-third of India’s 28 states have passed laws that “limit or prohibit religious conversion to protect the dominant religion from perceived threats from religious minorities.” Violating anti-conversion laws is punishable with fines and up to 10 years in prison.

4. Access to the gospel is increasing

Christianity is not only growing in numbers but is also expanding geographically. In 1900, 95 percent of the world’s Christians lived in predominantly Christian countries. Twice as many Christians lived in Europe than the rest of the world combined. Today, more Christians live in Africa than any other continent. By 2050, Africa will be home to almost 1.3 billion Christians, while Latin America (686 million) and Asia (560 million) will both have more than Europe (497 million) and North America (276 million).

More Christians are residing in diverse, non-Christian majority nations suggesting that most new

believers will come from non-Christian countries. This is a direct result of the improved accessibility of the gospel. In 1900, more than half of the world (54.3 percent) lacked access to the gospel, but this figure has steadily decreased to 27.8 percent in 2024. One reason for this is the percentage of non-Christians who know a Christian is climbing. With more Christians living outside of Christian nations, more non-Christians know a Christian. In 1900, only 5.4 percent of non-Christians could identify a Christian they knew. That number has grown to 18.3 percent today. By 2050, 1 in 5 non-Christians (20 percent) will know a follower of Jesus and have the opportunity to hear the gospel from them. As a result, the percentage of unevangelized people around the world continues to fall.¹⁰

Another major factor is the proliferation of Bible translations. The number of languages with New Testament translations is also set to rise from 2,400 in 2024 to an impressive 4,200 by 2050.¹¹ This year, 93 million copies of the Bible will be printed, up from 54 million in 2000 and 5 million in 1900. By 2025, 100 million Bibles will be printed each year. Currently, almost 1.8 billion Bibles are in circulation around the world. That will climb to 2.3 billion by 2050. God’s Word continues to expand into new languages in new and exciting ways, including pastors and theologians in India developing and printing a first-of-its-kind Telugu study Bible for the nearly 90 million Telugu speakers in the country.¹²

No longer is missions “from the West to the rest.” It’s “from everywhere, to everywhere.”

5. More churches are being planted and more missionaries are being sent

In 1900 there were approximately 400,000 churches in the world. In 1970 there were approximately 1.3 million. Today the number of churches worldwide, more than 4.2 million, is on a trajectory to grow to 5.4 million in 2050. That means over the past century, the number of churches has increased tenfold with no slowing down in sight. The number of national workers has increased nearly threefold since 1970, projected to expand to 17 million by 2050.¹³

This church planting effort is being driven by an international missionary force that grew from 62,000 in 1900 to a projected 445,000 in 2024, with expectations of reaching 600,000 by 2050. And these missionaries are no longer just coming from western nations. The number of missionaries being sent from countries in the Global South is on the rise, with 203,000 (47 percent of the total) in 2021, up from 31,000 (12 percent of the total) in 1970. Northern America and Europe continue to send the bulk of cross-cultural missionaries today (53 percent), but Brazil, South Korea, the Philippines and China each send large numbers as well.¹⁴

Here are just a few examples:

Church planting movements are taking place across South America, Africa and parts of Asia, and churches from these countries are now sending missionaries to other nations.
Filipino missionaries are being sent to Islamic nations.
Korean missionaries are being sent to Europe.
Nigerian missionaries are coming to North America — where the need for fresh evangelism continues to grow despite historic Christian dominance.¹⁵

This is even true among Advent Christians. Consider Erwin and Rowena Cabrizos, native Filipinos who started and oversee Agape House Ministries. Agape House has seven locations in Australia, Japan, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines. Through acts of service, biblical teaching, mercy ministries and evangelism, Agape House is taking the gospel to people groups whom it would be difficult for westerners to reach with the gospel. No longer is missions “from the West to the rest.” It’s “from everywhere, to everywhere.”

6. More money is being given

This expansion of the church is being fueled by increased financial giving. In 1970, $70 billion was given to Christian causes. By 2024, that amount grew to $1.3 trillion. As our brothers and sisters in the global south improve their incomes, they are investing more and more in Christian work, especially church planting and evangelism. By 2050, it is expected that giving to Christian causes will rise to $5.2 trillion dollars.¹⁶ ACGC’s 2023 Penny Crusade offering for missions was the fourth highest in history and a substantial increase over the previous year. God is blessing his people, and they are giving freely and cheerfully to Great Commission work around the world.

This is the state of the church today as Christianity Today reports, “Whereas roughly a century ago 82 percent of the world’s Christians lived in Europe and North America, 70 percent now live in the Global South. Today, Africa is home to more Christians than any other continent. Latin America is not far behind, with Spanish now the most common language spoken by Christians globally. If the growth of U.S. Christianity continues slowing and China’s churches keep growing, China could soon become the country with the most Christians in the world.”¹⁷ So don’t despair. Jesus was not wrong. His church is flourishing, and she will not be defeated but will ultimately prevail because Christ will prevail.

1. The church is big and growing

2. Atheism is shrinking

3. The church is growing in hard places

4. Access to the gospel is increasing

5. More churches are being planted and more missionaries are being sent

6. More money is being given

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