Does anyone represent a church in a primarily retirement community (like Branson, MO; Sun City, AZ; Florida, etc.)? I’m doing some research around generational demographics of thriving churches in those types of communities. Does the generational breakdown of the church reflect the community, or are young families still a significant component? Thank you!
Hi Karen,
We have an average attendance of about 430 on Sunday morning in a retirement/vacation community on the Texas coast. We have a changeable Winter Texan community and thriving retiree community and they are the bulk of our regular attenders. However, we do also have a thriving youth and children’s ministry. We consider the outreach to families and the community of the greatest importance. We have to reach our teens and children now or they will drift away from God altogether.
Our Wednesday nights are about family discipleship, having different Bible studies for all ages. We have been blessed with an average of about 40 youth and 45 children (0-6th grade) attending on Wednesday evening. I can tell that most of them do not attend on Sunday morning and some are coming from other area churches that don’t have programs for kids on Wednesday night! It took several years to get the numbers up this well and we have weathered a hurricane and the pandemic and bounced back because of intentional programs. I’ve been here years enough now to see former youth coming back with their young families. I also see our former youth taking their families to newer, hipper churches, and that is more than ok. They are seeking His word.
I don’t know if this answers your question but I hope it gives you some insight in the significance of pursuing families.
Thank you so much, Patricia! The information you shared is really helpful. Would you possibly know if the newer churches you mentioned have a similar demographic ratio of children to total congregation? It’s wonderful to hear about the Lord’s faithfulness to your church and your passion to reach the next generation! Thanks again!
Blessed to be able to help Karen, unfortunately I don’t have information on the newer churches. One of them is a multi-campus satellite church coming from the city and the other is a recent church plant.
Thank you, Patricia!