The effects of covid are still lingering in Nazarene churches across USA/Canada. This is not a statement on virology or the uptick in covid cases this summer, but a review of the post-covid church attendance numberrs. Sadly people left churches during covid and many haven’t come back. 

From 2020 to 2023 the USA/Canada Nazarene worship attendance went from 423,529 to 329,000. A 22% decline in three years. In 2020, four Nazarene churches in USA/Canada averaged over 2000 in attendance. In 2023, there is only one (Oro Valley, Arizona and Oro Valley wasn’t one of the four in 2020). In 2020, 26 churches averaged over 1000 in attendance, now there are eleven. In 2020 the church in the 100^th attendance position was still above 500, in 2023 the 100^th church in attendance was at 383. One church dropped 1775 people in the three year span; another dropped over 800. Most churches lost people. A covid attendance recovery hasn’t happened in most places. 

Most but not all. 

There are some shining lights. Oro Valley, as mentioned above, gained nearly 200 people to go over 2,000 (see the chart below for the twenty churches that grew the most in the last three years). There are others that also grew significantly too. Amplify, a Church of the Nazarene, in Willow Spring, North Carolina increased by 480 people in the three years (this summer they are averaging in person 1150 which is an increase of about 1,000 people in four years!).

What has made Amplify so successful? 

They have good music, but a lot of churches have good music. The pastor preaches fine sermons. There are plenty of good preachers in the Church of the Nazarene. The church relocated four years ago, but location change doesn’t always equate with growth. Churches aren’t like the Field of Dreams, “Build it and they will come.” Willow Spring, North Carolina is a growing area which can certainly help with church attendance growth, but other churches located in growing areas are not experiencing a similar increase. 

So what is the “secret sauce” of Amplify when so many churches lost people post covid? Amplify church’s pastor, Rev Philip Modlin, tried to answer the question for me (I spoke with him last week). 

Pastor Phillip humbly told of the commitment of his people to relocate. But not just relocate, the people had a commitment to pray and get involved in the community once they relocated. Pastor Modlin’s wife grew up at Amplify (the former Raleigh First Church of the Nazarene), where her father was the pastor. She has roots in the church and community. The Modlin’s are committed raising their family there too (they have five children). You get the sense, that Pastor Modlin and the congregation of Amplify are simply (it sounds too simple) seeking the Lord and following the lead of the Holy Spirit. Nothing “secret” about it.

Maybe closer to the truth of Amplify’s “secret sauce” is John Maxwell’s maxim, “everything rises and falls with leadership.” The church has: a humble, gifted leader; a willing and unified people; a commitment to prayer; and a desire to bless their community (I see you smiling, USA/Canada regional director, Dr. Stan Reeder. It’s a real time example of the USA/Canada’s Cycle of Resurgence initiative).  

Amplify’s ingredient for success is a commitment to prayer and serving. It is blessing their community through service; seeing people come to the Lord through those efforts; teaching them to be Christlike disciples; who, then in turn, are seeing these folks serve in the community. They repeat this formula over and over and over again. Maybe other churches won’t grow by 480 people in 3 years like Amplify, but if all USA/Canada churches made a commitment to prayer and blessing their community, then strong and steady results quite possibly will follow. 

Covid doesn’t have to kill the church. Kingdom growth can happen post covid. Strong, healthy, praying, unified and faithful churches can still happen in the 2020’s. Amplify and Pastor Modlin are showing us how to do it.

Top 20 Churches in Growing Nazarene Churches from 2020 to 2023

District	Church	2023 Worship, In-Person	2020 Worship	Worship Change
North Carolina	Amplify, a Church of the Nazarene	850	370	480
Metro New York	Nueva Vida Iglesia del Nazareno	375	–	375
North Arkansas	Crossroads Cowboy	1,365	1,039	326
Metro New York	The Bridge	250	–	250
Central Gulf Coast	Landmark	405	210	195
Arizona	Oro Valley	2,033	1,839	194
Chicago Central	Grace Community	334	145	189
Virginia	Harrisonburg Esperanza Viva	187	–	187
Anaheim	Yorba Linda Faith Community	319	143	176
MidSouth	Foundry	168	–	168
Joplin	The Well	953	791	162
South Carolina	Midland Valley Community	833	681	152
Arizona	Tucson Central	480	334	146
Upstate New York	Owego	382	248	134
Kentucky	Mount Sinai	160	32	128
North Central Ohio	Wadsworth	289	171	118
Anaheim	Cerritos Dias de Gloria	115	–	115
Southern California	Redlands The ARK	283	169	114
Indianapolis	Clermont	161	48	113