There are health issues, work deadlines, the pressure of family to be together, the overall stress of life, personal mental capacity to face the day, and the crucial assessment of the kind of reception one could expect from church that day: ‘Will I have someone to sit with? Will I have to sit with unpleasant people again? Will the sermon be worth it? What if Rev X is preaching? Will I belong? ... perhaps it would just be easier to get the shopping done.’Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/thepastorsheart)

How do you encourage the sheep that God has given you to care for to come to church to hear his word?

Satan is hard at work hours before church even starts!

There are health issues, work deadlines, the pressure of family to be together, the overall stress of life, personal mental capacity to face the day, and the crucial assessment of the kind of reception one could expect from church that day: ‘Will I have someone to sit with? Will I have to sit with unpleasant people again? Will the sermon be worth it? What if Rev X is preaching? Will I belong? ... perhaps it would just be easier to get the shopping done.’

Christians report attending church an average of 84% of the time. But their pastors say they are there only 67 % of the time.

Pastors recognize that the ‘regular member’ of a church now attends Sunday church between half and three-fifths of the time, whereas in the past they might have attended weekly or even twice on Sunday.

But what causes this? And what are the external and internal factors to look at to increase church attendance?

Antony Barraclough from St Matthews West Pymble has spent four years researching these questions and joins us to answer your questions on www.thepastorsheart
Write your questions for Anthony below.

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