“The church that reads the flow will survive!!”
Can the Korean Church Survive?
A Detailed Analysis of Korean Church Survival Strategy Trends

The Only Trend Analysis on the Korean Church: 2024 Korean Church Forecast and Outlook
30 research reports / 110 charts and graphics / Total sample size of over 10,000 people
[2024 Korean Church Trend Survey] 8 research reports (raw data) provided.

Prepare a strategy for survival in the era of church shrinkage!

Although the Korean church has overcome the COVID-19 crisis, it is facing an even greater crisis as it faces an era of church contraction. "Korean Church Trends 2024," the only trend analysis book on the Korean church that analyzes and diagnoses the Korean church with accurate data, presents a new pastoral paradigm for the church to survive in this era of contraction.
This will be a great help in developing future ministry strategies for churches by analyzing and diagnosing the current situation of Korean churches with accurate data, including newly emerging Christian types such as lonely Christians, OTT Christians, and the meme generation, as well as the 30-40 generation leaving the church and assistant pastors avoiding ministry.
I highly recommend this book to pastors who wish to read the flow of the times to endure the era of church contraction and create a new leap forward, to ministers who wish to understand the demands of a new church, and to church leaders.

Corona has dealt a counterpunch to the Korean church.
The number of churchgoers was already rapidly declining, and warning signs were being detected not only in small churches but also in medium-sized churches.
Now is the time for structural adjustment in the Korean church as a whole.
There is no way to stop the decline in religious influence with the current structure.
Bone-cutting self-reform is inevitable.
This is church rebuilding.
2024! Whether the Korean church succeeds in this rebuilding effort or not will determine its future.

--- p.55

This may be a somewhat shocking result, as it shows that the majority of Protestants do not seek to solve their loneliness through faith.
Also, activities such as small church group gatherings and social gatherings were not the main way to solve loneliness.
In addition, the fact that some Protestants responded that they cope with loneliness by engaging in entertainment activities such as ‘playing games and the internet,’ ‘eating alone, drinking alone,’ and ‘doing nothing,’ suggests that some Protestants are trying to soothe loneliness with loneliness or are essentially neglecting their lonely situations.

--- p.75

In fact, when comparing online worship services based on recorded videos with live streaming online worship services, problems such as spiritual weakness, disconnection, and boredom were more prominent in recorded worship services.
On the other hand, real-time worship emphasized more positive elements such as liveliness and satisfaction.
This shows that live worship provides greater immersion and strengthens the sense of community.
Therefore, even in modern society where technology is changing the form and expression of worship, we are reaffirming the fact that real-time worship continues to demonstrate its value at the center of the community.

--- p.100

The church must also stop doing ministry 'for' youth and allow ministry 'by' youth to take place.
Today's youth are more technologically savvy, horizontal, open, participatory, and hyper-connected than any other generation.
Rather than trying to do something for young people, the church should support young people to create their own Christian culture.
Rather than mobilizing them for the event, they should be included from the planning stage.

--- p.131

More than half of the 30-40 age group do not attend in-person worship services.
The rate of in-person worship at churches is only 44.0%, making the recovery of in-person worship the slowest among all age groups.
Half (50.4%) are attending worship services online.
Other church activities are also not active, and the participation rate in small groups, youth groups, evangelistic meetings, and church volunteer work is much lower among the 30-40 age group than among the 50-60 age group.

--- p.152

Today's church can no longer be served by pastors alone.
The church, like society and businesses, faces numerous complex factors and uncertain environments.
The church is currently facing many challenges, including the post-COVID era, endemic diseases, AI, social media, diverse generations, low birth rates, an aging population, and social distrust.
Now is the time for laypeople with specialized knowledge and skills to play a role.
Perhaps lay people can carry out ministry more dynamically than pastors.
Ministry can be enriched through the diverse gifts of the laity.
For this reason, interdependent and horizontal governance that can encourage voluntary participation is increasingly important.

--- p.173

The results of this 'Trend Survey' on small groups revealed some surprising responses from Protestants who participate in small groups within their churches.
When asked, "How would you rate the small group you are mainly active in?", small group participants responded as follows (multiple responses allowed).
First, ‘It’s fun to get together’ (93.1%) was the most common response, and ‘It’s beneficial to me’ also showed the same response rate.
This was followed by responses such as ‘maintaining close relationships’ (90.4%), ‘there is a culture and atmosphere of helping those in need’ (89.5%), and ‘receiving religious encouragement and stimulation’ (88.8%).

--- p.205

In the '2024 Korean Church Trend Survey' conducted by the Pastoral Data Research Institute, 85.7% of senior pastors responded that the future hiring of associate pastors will become more difficult than it is now.
On the other hand, only 10.0% of respondents answered that it would be 'similar to now', and 1.2% answered that it would be 'easier than now'.
Pastors in the field overwhelmingly predict that it will be difficult to invite assistant pastors in the future.

--- p.220

Similar results were found in the '2024 Korean Church Trend Survey'.
When churches that pride themselves on being missionary churches were asked about their fruits, 62.1% answered, “Silver members’ voluntary participation in ministry.”
Next was ‘good reputation in the local community’ (52.8%).
This was followed by ‘evangelism to non-believers’ (33.3%), ‘attendance of Canaanite believers’ (22.1%), and ‘church growth’ (15.9%), which can be interpreted as a natural and healthy result of a missionary church.

--- p.261

The rise of heretical sects has been evident since the early days of the church when the gospel was preached.
If you look at 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Peter, the Epistles of John, Jude, and the Book of Revelation, you will find that a significant portion of them are devoted to dealing with heresy.
The Bible deals heavily with dealing with heresy.
Now, the Korean church must no longer view heresy as something to be avoided, but rather recognize it as a massive trend hindering the growth of the Korean church, and confront it head-on with the truth, taking decisive action.

--- p.303