Understanding the Church in Europe: 5 Observations
Since moving to Paris 18 months ago on assignment for OneHope, a global Christian non-profit organization, many people ask me about the Church in Europe. Some would say Europe is experiencing a boom, a rapid growth of churches and church attendance, while others report that the Church in Europe is on the verge of dying completely. While I don’t think the reality is completely the former or the latter options, the Church in Europe is on one hand growing in some areas but also dying in others. In order to better understand this paradox, I’ve provided a brief synopsis of the European Church.
This is by no means an exhaustive discourse on European missiology or church planting. Instead, the summary below reflects hundreds of conversations with some of the most influential Christian leaders across the continent, my own observation from living on the continent for the past 18 months, and my work with Christian churches and organizations across nearly 20 European countries.
Two brief caveats before I begin:
1. The 5 observations mentioned below are not mutually exclusive, nor are they comprehensive of every church congregation or segment in Europe. They are simply broad-stroke categories of churches and communities meant to reflect the big picture.
2. The formation, future, and nuances of each category are relevant, yet beyond the scope of this post. Decades of research and large volumes of data shed light into these differences. Here is merely an introduction to each.
1. Perishing Parishes
This is the largest group by sheer number of individual congregations, yet both attendance and actual congregations are in decline. Geographically, these congregations are typically in small towns and villages, though some small congregations exist in Europe’s urban centers. Many of these churches were once central to their communities, especially leading up to the 20th century, but have since been pushed aside from their positions of influence. Perishing Parishes tend to be denominational (e.g. Assemblies of God, Baptist, Church of England, etc.) and often seek to preserve denominational culture and traditions over community outreach, growth, and relevance.
These churches typically lack both financial and human resources and struggle to be a relevant place for young people to attend.
2. Passionate Pentecostals
Pentecostal Christianity, the world’s fastest growing religious movement,* is also alive and growing in Europe. Pentecostal churches are passionate about evangelism, outreach, and reaching their communities, yet Pentecostals are often criticized for failing to collaborate with the broader Church community (especially non-Pentecostal/Charismatic churches or denominations) in their context, leaving Pentecostals isolated from other Christian groups and from society as a whole. Nonetheless, Pentecostals tend to connect with other Pentecostal “movements” or “unions” in other cities, regions, or countries across Europe. Church growth primarily comes from evangelism and community outreach. Youth ministry varies from congregation to congregation, depending on its size, lead pastor, and other variables.
Pentecostal churches are passionate about evangelism, outreach, and reaching their communities, yet Pentecostals are often criticized for failing to collaborate with the broader Church community
3. Committed Catholics
Statistically, about 35% (257 million) of the 740 million Europeans are Catholic.** “Committed” Catholics is a simple term to refer to Catholics who in one way or another behave or act in ways that are consistent with Christian principles. This may include frequent church/mass attendance, participation in local parishes or faith communities, reading of Scripture, etc.
While over 250 million across Europe self-identify as Catholic, the number of Committed Catholics may be closer to 10% — 20% of the total Catholic population.
4. GROW Churches
GROW Churches stand for Geographically central (in urban centers or centrally-located in the suburbs), Relevant to culture, Outreach focused, and Welcoming. In terms of total congregations, GROW churches are relatively small, yet the average attendance per congregation is much higher than their counterparts. At their core, GROW churches are committed to growth and often benefit from dynamic, visionary leaders who lead church staff and volunteers to create a friendly and welcoming experience for the newcomer. GROW churches break the mold of the historical and mainline churches in their context and push boundaries that would not be feasible under a denominational structure. Their fresh expressions and (relatively) innovative approaches to church service experiences attract many families and young people. Furthermore, GROW churches tend to use visual media, have a strong web presence, and are often part of a larger network of like-minded churches, ensuring a shared pool of ideas, best practices, and guest speakers.
GROW churches are committed to growth and often benefit from dynamic, visionary leaders who lead church staff and volunteers to create a friendly and welcoming experience for the newcomer.
5. Collaborative Parachurches
The fifth and final category does not fit an ecclesiastical definition of church congregation, but is worth noting nonetheless. Like the US and other parts of the world, Europe has its own collaborative parachurch organizations. These organizations and ministries mostly operate separately from individual church congregations. And like elsewhere in the world, European parachurches come in all shapes and sizes. Some are well resourced and other are not; some benefit from gifted leadership and others lack effective leadership; some are exclusive with whom they work with (if anyone) and others are inclusive and collaborative with strong partnerships and networks. Additionally, some parachurch organizations focus locally on their community or country while others work broadly across Europe or other parts of the globe.
Nevertheless, collaborative parachurches are a vital part of the Church across Europe and a magnet for attracting some of Europe’s top leaders committed to transforming Europe.
Do these categories fit with your understanding or experience of the Church in Europe or did I leave out a major segment? Please share in the comments.
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** http://www.pewforum.org/2013/02/13/the-global-catholic-population/
