No surprises here. I don't any serious pastor who believes the worship service is the primary place where spiritual growth or connection is going to happen. Actually most of the ones I know (including notables like Rick Warren, Andy Stanley, etc) will tell you services aren't the primary place for growth.

As a minister of a large metro-area church I can tell you that our primary goal is to move people from the sidelines and into game. We do that by pushing groups, service projects, and missions efforts. Yet a sizable group still just shows up for service and leaves even after hearing how incredible those connection points can be.

You will never grow meaningfully by just attending a service...you have to step into a deeper fellowship. Our services are the entryways to growth, but not the place growth (and connection) take place.

I wonder if it's a mix of what people are expecting when they go dig into their bibles or attend a sunday worship service. If the mentality is that God does not speak in our current day, then we may very well miss His voice when He does speak. We are becoming a generation of itching ears, and many times God says things that we do not want to hear in the first place.

Maybe it's just me, but I would think the obvious follow-up question would be "do you experience God's presence at other times and if so, when?". In light of Brandon J. O'Brien's recent Religious Lives of Twentysomethings series, I'm wondering whether some of them believe that feeling the presence of God isn't necessary for the Christian life.

I appreciate all the comments above.

I tend to think that too many of us listen to preachers and teachers and take it as theory. If we are not in a group (or a church) where we hear the excitement of how God is actually doing something in real lives, we find it easy to pass off.

Maybe we need to feel, hear and see the Spirit at work and realize this is not just another story, but can be real in my life. Most of our churches train us to be listeners and passive and too few join groups where we see God at work.

I have discovered at 35+ years of ministry, we get what we expect. I think many of those who attend a Sunday morning (or Saturday night) service really expect to have an encounter with God...sadly, I would say that holds true for us pastors as well.

Let's be honest...if we were praying some Sunday morning and everybody's head caught on fire we'd be pretty freaked out.

Oh, we want the Holy Spirit to "show up" but to do so nicely and in the theme and set of the order of worship. I mean why have an "order" of worship if we really thought God was in control.

YIKES! I am preaching to myself...I hate when I do that!

I agree with pretty much all that has been said here. I believe that there are two problems:

1. A great many people who attend church are not truly born again. Therefore, until that happens there cannot be transformation.

2. I'm unclear what is meant by 'connecting with God'. Is it a warm fuzzy feeling; speaking in tongues; singing really loud; lifting one's hands? What exactly is 'transformation'; doing good works? If you stop and think about it, Jesus actually said in the much acclaimed Sermon On The Mount, " "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works IN YOUR NAME?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'"
Who might these folks be?

It is very rare that I have been in a church service that I did not see or hear something that was of Jesus. I believe a church service was meant to be a collection of gifting,faith,teachings,beauty,talent, and a lot of talk about Jesus.I went to church as a Catholic for 19 yrs. and did not have the faintest idea what half of it meant but there came a day when the Holy Spirit came apon me and let me know I was a part of humanity that needed a Savior. After that all that teaching that I tried to understand started to become understandable. We must do it God's way and then it does not matter where you are you will see Jesus you just have to recognize Him.I like church because there are more of God's people in one place at one time than any other place on the earth!

I think the most notable thing from the survey as this line: "Nearly half said their life had not changed at all as a result of churchgoing (46%)."

"Experiencing God" may be subjective but "not changed at all" - that's just tragic. I can't imagine going to a weekly meeting of people and investing my time and life into something that was producing no change in my life. It makes me wonder what sort of people would do that and why? It's also tragic because I think for the most part as long as they're there and they drop their money in the plate/basket/hat our system doesn't really care how "changed" their life is.

And finally, it's also tragic because of incarnation informs our approach to ministry we shouldn't need surveys to find out if the people in our community are experiencing change or not.

If so many mega-church pastors say that the worship service is not the primary place where spiritual growth or connections happen why do they put so much time, people, resources, facilities, money and promotion into that bucket? Something doesn't add up, looks a little inauthentic from the view from down here.

I think one of the reasons many churches put a lot of their eggs in the worship basket is because of the idea that they are "seeker sensitive." At its best, churches want people to feel welcome, not as outsiders. It can be off-putting to go in a room where people are saying things and singing things from memory of which you know nothing. I get that. But in the process of being seeker sensitive, I wonder if we have lost a lot of the wonder (that Isaiah encountered) and awe by being "attractive" to outsiders. After all, there's not a whole lot of awe and wonder to 4 things that will make your life better.

I think the issue might be that people expect too LITTLE from worship. (Full disclosure: I worship in the Anglican tradition). We say that worship is "meeting with God," but the vast majority of churches function as seminars ABOUT God, but carried out in human power alone. There is little in worship that actually allows for communion with the triune God, little that communicates "God is really among you!" (1 Cor. 14:25) Read John J. Davis' new book, "Worship and the Reality of God," for a good explanation. Evangelicals would do well to remember that God is present in our worship, and act like that's true.

Ask a child "are you growing?" and they'll probably say "No, I'm the same size I was yesterday." But the child's parents (and grandparents) will say "Yes, very quickly." Self-perception is often distorted.

This is the problem with research based on self-perception, especially self-perception of an experience with God. Lots of people can have an experience with God and not recognize it. (Those on the road to Emmaus, for example). Others can claim an experience with God whether God was actually there or not.

If you have a worship experience, OF COURSE you have encountered God, at some level. God is omnipresent! The question is whether you are capable of recognizing and identifying the nature of that experience.

Just like whether a child is capable is recognizing and identifying the ways he is growing right now.

I have served in churches for 23 year in Christian Formation and assisted in planning and leading worship services. We made a conscious effort to have dialogue with our people about NOT loading up all the worship expectations on Sunday morning. We simply could not be all things to all people in that way. It seems to me that Sunday is the time to celebrate together what God is doing the rest of the week. How different it would be if "worshippers" arrived at our services with an attitude of God-awareness that permeated their week? Then we wouldn't be so incredibly thirsty and hungry spiritually on Sunday that we would expect the service to do what we could be experiencing throughout the week.

Though I appreciate Barna and his work, I would hold on loosely to his findings based on the above responses, which I found extremely insightful. And I especially appreciated your comment on what people are doing Monday through Saturday: some people expect church to fill them up and get them dancing even though they haven't sought after God the previous six days. Also, for those redeemed individuals who say they do not 'experience' God in church, I wonder what direction their lives would take if they stopped attending. I believe there's a good chance that the worship, teaching, and community is working on their hearts even when they're not aware of it.

I have been a Christian for over 30 years and confess that I have become bored with our church services. I am not bored with the Lord and still involved in small group ministry. I love the Lord and his people. But in all honesty I have no desire or need to attend Sunday services. Why? As best as I can read my own feeling I think the main reason is that I am tired of the show. In my independent evangelical church we have morphed over the years into your garden variety seeker church. Our services have become characterized by loud music, trendy topical sermons, and lot's of "excitement." Very spectator and entertainment oriented. Good or bad? I guess we could debate that. For me, I am having a very difficult time finding the Lord in all of it.

What is the purpose of a worship service? What is its function?

Those 1st Century churches did not have worship services. They had open-participatory meetings where all the believers shared Christ equally and mutually.

Is worship about experiencing God? Patti asked in her comment, "How different it would be if 'worshippers' arrived at our services with an attitude of God-awareness that permeated their week?" I can't imagine such a congregation attending services at all! Every last member would be so animated to share the Christ in them they couldn't sit still in a pew for an orchestrated service.

Is it about life transformation? To me, that implies learning to be and teaching about being and acting differently. That may be spiritual - learning to put aside flesh and live by Christ's indwelling life; or practical - good habits, loving your neighbor, etc. Lecture-style teaching is the least effective method of learning. Moreso, it was not used in the bible. Preaching was a way to evangelize, to inspire people into something deeper.

The apostles preached so people could hear and believe the Gospel, then take on the Christian life directly. They heard and believed, then acted on those beliefs. Preaching covers step one, but is meaningless to the rest unless the person strays from the path and needs to re-learn, re-hear, re-believe.

Frankly, I think we do worship services instead of open meetings out of fear and laziness. Fear that new converts will get out of hand or go astray and possibly do harm. Laziness because the Christian life is hard, and it's much easier to stay at step one than make any progress.

I'm beginning to suspect that most of you are confusing "connectivity" to G-d during worship with dopamine rush.

There are studies that have been done showing a direct correlation between music of any genre eliciting a dopamine cascade event in the brain.

I would posit then, based on the subject of this thread that is why a lot of people are Sunday Worship Service junkies looking for their next fix...they dig themselves some dopamine.

And like all junkies, the rush begins leaving them the following day, and then that individual gets cranky, want's more, and knows intutively they're not going to get another hit till Sunday. So...they supplement with radio, or iPod music, which, yeah, kinda/sorta acts as a methadone in the interim to keep the "high" somewhat in their system.

So, I'll be the jerk here, and say what a lot of you are not willing to say...

That is not spirituality, and it certainly isn't connectivity to G-d...no, what it's called is an unhealthy addiction to an outside stimulus to the pleasure center of the brain that doesn't bring positive change in a person's character, rather invests the individual in continuous manic character changes that last a short moment of time.

In short, it's not connecting to G-d, nor is it following G-d...all it is...is just a poor soul who doesn't know better that they want/need that hit in order to feel closer to G-d...and what their really getting is a hit of dopamine.

I don't know where to begin with this one other than to think the Mark Twain's quote on statistics applies to surveys as well. The primary purpose of worship is to praise, pray to, learn of, and draw closer to God. If you are not feeling the presence of God in worship, you need to find a new place to worship. Because when worship stops being about entering into God's presence and seeking God's guidance, we have become lost as to what we are doing and why we are there. When you listen to people's prayers and hear their prayer requests, it is obvious that they feel connected to God in worship or else they would simply pray their prayers elsewhere. Seek God, in worship. It is the historic thing the people of God have done and it is also our contemporary calling.

I don't know how I'd answer that question. Do I feel more connected to God during a Sunday service than during the rest of the week? Not necessarily.Does it transform me into a different person, even a little bit? Again, that's a negative. Does it serve as a quiet reminder to me of His presence at the beginning of the week? Yes, but only after I knocked it off the pedestal and approached it with "God can speak to me anywhere, even here." And He does; when He doesn't, I keep doing my best to listen anyway-- anywhere, all week long. But try putting that on a survey.

I don't think the expectations are too high, I think they're misplaced. The goal of worship is not to *feel* connected with God. It is to *be* connected with God. God has promised to be with His people whenever they gather to receive His gifts. When Scripture is read and preached, God is there. When we celebrate the Lord's Supper and baptize people, God's giving us His grace. Not because we feel Him, but because He has promised it.

There's a good reason why some churches explicitly have an "Invocation" at the beginning of their services/gatherings. It is to state that we are gathering in the name of the Trinitarian God. Jesus is Emmanuel - God With Us - and His presence doesn't depend on our feelings. So in a sense, we can say churches are failing, if the goal is to try to create an environment where people can "experience" God as if somehow if we do things well enough, He'll show up.

He shows up when His Word is proclaimed. Whether I feel like He has or not. With due respect to Barna's group, we don't need studies and stats to lead us to know how to get God to show up. We simply have to share His gifts.

Much wisdom has been shared in the comments regarding this article. I hope I can add to it. It's my belief that partially we (the church) are losing our ability to commune with God because we believe proof of our connection is not real unless it is 'felt' (as a previous commenter mentioned regarding 'dopamine'.) To some extent this is true as God created us to be emotional as well as rational beings. But to the extent we lean on a ‘feeling’ as proof God connection we miss out on the ‘still small voice in the wind’.
I also think we have disconnected by compartmentalizing our spirituality. (EG we 'go' to church on Sunday's). When in reality wherever a believer is, the church is. Hence wherever we connect with God we have been at church.
Regarding attending 'church' on Sunday's from my experience as part of a large church where I previously served as the lead of video and graphic production, is that it was not so much a worship service, as an 'event' that was produced to help facilitate a connection between the unbeliever and God. With the service having devolved to a one hour worship event with great music, killer lighting, videos, great graphics and a good speaker. And we were reaching our target demographic (30 something families with children) with attendance surpassing 2,000+ when I had left.
I can honestly state that I had not had what I considered many “connections with God” experience’s during my six years there during the regularly scheduled Sunday services. (Indeed the lead staff constantly stated that the service was designed for unbelievers not believers).
I found my connection times coming in one on one interaction with God through personal devotions, or in my small groups, in sharing Christ with an unbeliever and other times as I interacted with His creation.
I finally left that large church because the lead staff and I agreed it was time for me to move on.
Presently I attend a church of 200 and find that I am connecting more with God through the community of believers when we gather on Sundays and in small groups during the week. No doubt this is due in part to not being in the business of ‘church’ for the past year.

Once we get beyond the gospels in the New Testament we start reading the letters to the first century churches. Beginning with Paul's letter to the Romans and letters to several other churches, it would seem that churches have had problems from day one. Probably because they are filled with forgiven, but not yet perfect, sinners (myself excepted). There is an amazing amount of practical advice for living and personal day to day behavior in those letters. There is also a lot of instruction for proper church administration and leadership. There is not, however, any guidance on proper congregation size or small group encounters. Nothing is said about lighting, music, length of the service, meeting 'felt' needs, or most of the other things we often think are terribly important. Well, there is one passage about length of the service and lighting found in the book of Acts, "On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them ... and he prolonged his speech until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered." Acts 20:7-8. Still, the implication could be not to go quite that late as sleeping children can fall out of windows. Now, where was I?

i never understand this whole thing about the holy spirit showing up...if we are believers he has promised to be with us, so when we get together he is there. is it about intensity and some emotional feeling...which i think it was the survey is about...if you've never accepted christ, then trying to connect with god during a worship service is just a feel good feeling. as a believer sometimes you have that emotional moment, sometimes you dont but it doesnt mean you're not connected.

The problem is always the same. Lack of the Holy Spirit and focus on prayer. Most go to the service and sing 5 songs by formula and most demoninations deny the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit. Prayer is treated like a grand motif recital, when all you need to do is talk to God. I'm pretty sure he doesn't listen to the same "lords prayer" recitation every sunday. It isa blueprint of bullet points, not a prayer. When Jesus said if a carnal man can give great gifts to his son, how much more will the Father give the HOLY SPIRIT to him who asks, don't you think we should ask? When services are heading toward people getting uncomfortable and going forward to ask for prayer, and the pastor says...oh look at the time gotta cut it short...what do you expect to happen?
You can praise Tebow mon nights, but are embarassed to praise God on Sunday. Scream for little billy to get that goal, but God has the Doctor say, oh it's the best kind...benign, we just cut it out no problem. And you say good doctor. Instead of PRAISE GOD. You take prozac for deprssion instead of focusing on that which is right, trustworthy, praiseworthy...need I go on?

It's my experience that the church service is too structured, program oriented. Three or four songs, offering, then the message. I started attending a church that has one hour and 45 minutes of worship. It was strange at first but I have come to see that the Holy Spirit is all over the place because they allow time, quietness, expressive worship, whatever might happen in the space of time. Sometimes the worship teams sings, sometimes they wait on the Lord. Sometimes there is individual expression. However the Spirit leads.

Following the worship we have an interactive sermon where we can ask questions or express thoughts during the service. The Pastor will often ask our thoughts as we go along. Spiritual growth and connection to God is alive and well. It also fits "the Priesthood of all believers" as opposed to Pastor at top of a heirarchy.

Following that we eat lunch together. As you can imagine this is a very small church but I love it. Reminds me of what a home church might have been like. Before this, I attended a mega church so have experienced both.

How about the idea that we go to church to give - not get. We gather as believers to give our worship to God first and foremost. In doing that mystical service we can receive blessing. Contemporary worship sends confusing messages because it uses the symbols and mediums of contemporary entertainment and music lyrics that tend to be directed to the worshipper's experience, not on the majesty and expansiveness of God. If it's all about us, it's not about much and that's very unsatisfying.

I so agree. Lots of time for praise and worshipping our God....as opposed to following an agenda. Worship is all about Him, giving to Him and comes out of a thankful heart that is in communion 24/7.

My answer to this is your going to the wrong church. I attend a church (The Potters House / Denver) and when I leave there I'm charged like a battery all week. A lot of chuches I have checked out are too structured and not spirit lead. You need the Holy Spirit to lead the service not a scheduled program.

When we receive the Lord's Supper we receive the true body and blood of Jesus in, with, and under the elements. Thus, we encounter the Living God every time we come to His table.

I think it's a case of lead by example and elders should not be elders unless they are given to hospitality. John Wesley encouraged meeting and eating together just like we read in the book of Acts with communion (which includes food ) begin taken in the home. Church is not about a religious ceremony with no relationship. Church is relationship and the sooner we see fellowship as something to experience up close and personal eg confessing our sins to each other and praying for healing! the sooner we will have some kind of spiritual life.
How about 'one brings a psalm, hym or spiritual song' to a meeting? no this isn't for aliens or weird people, it's an essential ingredient for church life. Sunday can often be a stage managed event where we stand with a mug of coffee in our hands and watch the performance. This needs to stop we need to engage with each other and a lost world out there who will know us by our love. Church hospitality is about being a place of healing just like a community hospital but with God in charge.

I don't know if this will be helpful coming from an Evangelical turned Orthodox, but I never leave an Orthodox liturgy or prayer service feeling I have not made a connection with God. Quite the contrary, I feel a vital and objective connection with Christ and the entire Church as it has existed through the centuries from earliest times that is deeply nourishing spiritually, and which I was seeking all my life. Sometimes, though, this connection is convicting and unsettling--it is not all comfy cozy, and it is something very different than the spiritual "high," or experiences we were sometimes seeking in the charismatic circles I once traveled!

I suspect this has to do in part with the orientation of the Orthodox liturgy and prayers (all directed toward God and centered on Christ) and their content (rich in biblical truth as it has been digested and distilled in the Church by her Fathers and Saints through the ages). I would compare the sense of connection to God that I get to that of a child safely enfolded in the security of a loving parental embrace--not the spiritual high of an intense infatuation.

On the other hand, because of the orientation and goal of the spiritual disciplines of Orthodox spirituality (including participation in the services), I am keenly aware that the purpose of that participation is not an end in itself, but is to transform me into Christ's image and make me fruitful for Him by drawing me into a real experiential union with Him. I guess I would have to say that genuine Orthodoxy has always been missional, rather than seeker sensitive.

After being in church this morning I am again reminded that church serves two strongly Biblical purposes:

1. Instruction in the Word of God delivered by a preacher who has been called by God for this purpose and is therefore good at it.
2. The wonderful fellowship of believers who are born again and are lifting their hearts together with mine in praise to the Lord.

One song from the service today had these words: "I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus, the Nazarene, and wonder how he could love me; a sinner, condemned, unclean. How marvelous, how wonderful. And my song shall ever be, how marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me." - Charles H. Gabriel

HEY GUYS! generally God is WISE! he can let you feel his presence if he wants to, it doesn't mean that when you go to church there's already presence of God, GOD IS EVERYWHERE! man schools,offices,markets etc. and i already felt Jesus at most places... and if you dont wanna believe me then don't, and if your wondering "WHY AM I NOT FEELING HIS PRESENCE?"... you can find the answers on yourselves, try asking yourself "why can't i feel God, and yet few people are feeling his presence" and try answering your own question, you will be amazed from your own answer! maybe you would answer I DONT KNOW! the only reason for that is you lack FAITH! keep on believing and keep on worshiping him, NEVER DOUBT! AND ACCEPT HIM AS YOUR LORD AND YOUR SAVIOR. THEN BURY THE OLD YOU, AND LET GOD TRANSFORM YOU INTO A BETTER PERSON! remember: SIN HINDERS US FROM GOD! watch your actions and DON'T sin!