Let’s talk about the thing that’s keeping you up at night. Declining attendance and giving is much lower than usual. Your budget projections from two years ago look like fantasy fiction now.
And you’re wondering if things will ever get back to normal.
Here’s the truth: Things might not go back to exactly what they were—but you absolutely can see a turnaround.
Don’t give up. The story isn’t over yet.
The Post-COVID Reality We’re All Navigating
We all thought it was temporary.
Those first few months after lockdowns ended, we expected people to flood back through the doors. Any Sunday now, we told ourselves. Just give them time to feel safe again.
But here we are, years later, and we’re facing a new reality: The attendance patterns that started during COVID have become permanent for many people.
Some folks got used to watching online. Others found a new rhythm with their Sunday mornings. A handful discovered they could “do church” without actually going to church—at least, that’s what they think.
Your building used to be 70% full on a Sunday morning. Now you’re running at 50%. The people who do show up are faithful, committed, and wonderful. But the budget you built for a pre-2020 world doesn’t match your current reality.
Here’s the good news: Churches all over the country are finding their footing again, and you can too.
The Mission Hasn’t Changed
Before we dive into practical solutions, let’s get one thing crystal clear.
The mission is still the mission.
COVID didn’t change the Great Commission. Your declining attendance doesn’t alter what Jesus called you to do. Empty seats don’t rewrite the gospel.
You’re still called to make disciples. Reaching the lost remains your calling. Being salt and light in your community is still the assignment.
What’s changed isn’t the mission—it’s the circumstances. And God has a history of using challenging circumstances to refocus His people on what actually matters.
Don’t Let Former Members Consume You
Here’s where many pastors get stuck.
You spend all your time and energy trying to win back the people who left. Every week, you’re making calls, sending texts, having coffee meetings with folks who keep making excuses about why they’re not coming back.
I get it. These are people you love. You poured into them for years. Watching them drift away hurts deeply.
Do what you can to reconnect, but don’t let them become your entire focus.
Make one genuine attempt at connection. Divide the list among your leaders. Reach out personally. Ask what happened. Listen without being defensive. Then cast vision for where the church is going.
Some will come back. Many won’t. That’s okay.
Because here’s the reality: There are lost and hurting people in your community who desperately need what you have.
The person who’s never heard the gospel should matter more to you than the person who heard it and chose to walk away. That might sound harsh, but it’s true.
Your community is full of people far from God—single moms barely holding it together, divorced dads struggling with loneliness, teenagers battling anxiety and depression, young couples drowning in debt, elderly people who feel forgotten.
These are your mission field.
Not the family who decided online church from a megachurch is more convenient. The couple who got offended about your COVID protocols isn’t your primary focus. Neither are the members who rediscovered their lake house on Sunday mornings.
Reach out once to those who left, then get back to your mission. The harvest is ready, and you can’t spend all your time chasing people who don’t want to be chased.
Practical Ways to Turn Your Finances Around
Let’s talk about real, actionable steps you can take right now to improve your financial situation.
1. Cast Vision Relentlessly
People give to vision, not budgets.
Stop talking about keeping the lights on and start talking about changed lives. Tell stories every single week of what God is doing through your church. Celebrate salvations publicly. Highlight baptisms with enthusiasm. Share testimonies of transformation regularly.
When people see Kingdom impact, they want to invest in it.
2. Launch a Year-End Giving Campaign
Don’t wait and hope December fixes everything. Be proactive instead.
Create a compelling year-end giving campaign that shows people exactly what their generosity will accomplish. Not “we need to cover our budget shortfall”—that’s not inspiring. Instead: “Here’s what we’re going to do in 2026 to reach our community for Jesus, and here’s what it will cost.”
Give people something worth investing in.
3. Implement Systematic Generosity Teaching
Most churches teach on giving once or twice a year. That’s not enough.
Build a culture of generosity by teaching on it regularly—not manipulatively, but biblically. Talk about tithing with confidence. Discuss first-fruits giving openly. Challenge people to give sacrificially without apology.
We’ve gotten so soft on this. Jesus talked about money more than almost any other topic. Paul discussed giving with the early churches. The first believers sold possessions to meet needs without hesitation.
Comfortable, convenient giving doesn’t produce spiritual growth or Kingdom impact.
4. Make Giving Easy and Visible
Online giving is essential in 2025. If you don’t have it, get it now. Make sure it’s simple, intuitive, and takes less than 60 seconds to complete.
But don’t make it only digital. Create moments where people physically put something in the offering. There’s something spiritually significant about the act of giving that gets lost when it’s completely automated.
Consider multiple giving options: text-to-give, QR codes, mobile apps, and good old-fashioned offering plates.
5. Launch a Legacy Giving Program
Talk to your older members about estate planning and legacy giving. Many people would love to leave something to the church but have never been asked or don’t know how.
Partner with a Christian financial advisor who can help members think through planned giving, charitable trusts, and beneficiary designations.
This won’t help your immediate crisis, but it builds long-term financial stability.
6. Cut Ruthlessly, Invest Strategically
Evaluate every line item in your budget. Ask: “Does this directly contribute to our mission of making disciples and reaching the lost?”
If the answer is no or “not really,” cut it or reduce it significantly.
Then take those resources and invest them in things that actually produce Kingdom fruit: outreach initiatives, discipleship programs, community service projects, leader development.
Smaller budgets force you to prioritize, and that’s actually a gift.
7. Develop Multiple Income Streams
Your church doesn’t have to rely solely on tithes and offerings.
Can you rent your building to community groups during the week? Offering paid workshops or classes that serve your community might be an option. Starting a ministry-related business that generates income while serving people could work effectively.
Some churches have launched coffee shops, counseling centers, or co-working spaces that generate revenue while creating Gospel opportunities.
8. Challenge Your Core to Step Up
Be honest with your committed members about where things stand financially. Not in a panic, but with transparency and faith.
Challenge your most committed givers to increase their giving temporarily to help bridge the gap. Many faithful members will respond if they understand the need and trust the leadership.
Consider launching a 90-day challenge where people commit to give above and beyond their normal giving to a specific initiative or need.
9. Mobilize for Outreach
Here’s something counterintuitive: When you focus outward, giving often increases.
Launch a serve day in your community. Starting a support group for people dealing with addiction or divorce creates Kingdom opportunities. Partner with a local school to make a real difference. Do something that puts your people in contact with people who need Jesus.
When church members see their faith making a real difference in people’s lives, they give more generously. Inward-focused churches struggle financially while outward-focused churches tend to thrive.
10. Celebrate Small Wins
Every time giving goes up, celebrate it publicly. Acknowledge it when someone new starts tithing (not by name, but as a win). Make a big deal about it whenever you hit a giving goal.
What you celebrate, you create more of.
The Hybrid Church Decision
You’ve got to make a choice about your online presence.
Are you an in-person church with an online option for people who can’t attend? Or are you trying to be a digital church?
You can’t be both with excellence unless you’re a megachurch with unlimited resources.
Most churches need to be primarily in-person with a basic livestream for the sick, traveling, or those with legitimate reasons for missing. Your production doesn’t need to be broadcast quality—it needs to be adequate.
Focus on making your in-person gathering so compelling that people don’t want to miss it.
Create an environment where real relationships happen. Build a place where people know each other’s names. Design an experience where showing up actually matters.
The churches that are thriving post-COVID are the ones that stopped trying to compete with megachurch productions and started investing deeply in authentic community.
Shift Your Focus to the Lost
Maybe God allowed this disruption to refocus you on the mission.
Pre-COVID, how much energy went into keeping members happy versus reaching the lost? How many programs existed to serve people who were already comfortable?
Smaller budgets force you to prioritize. Smaller crowds force you to get creative.
What if instead of mourning your declining attendance, you celebrated that you now have a lean, committed core ready to reach your community?
Stop asking, “How do I get the people back who left?”
Start asking, “How do I reach the people who’ve never come?”
Steps to Move Forward This Month
Here’s your action plan for the next 90 days:
Weeks 1-2: Reconnect and Release Make one final personal contact with everyone who stopped attending. Listen carefully to their stories. Invite them back into the mission with genuine warmth. Then let it go and refocus on reaching the lost.
Weeks 3-6: Vision Cast Preach a series on generosity and mission. Cast compelling vision for what God wants to do through your church. Tell stories of Kingdom impact every single week without fail.
Weeks 7-10: Launch Outreach Start one significant community outreach initiative. A serve day works well for getting people engaged. Support groups meet real needs in your community. Partnerships with schools create long-term Gospel opportunities—choose something that puts your people in contact with people who need Jesus.
Weeks 11-12: Year-End Push Launch your year-end giving campaign with specific goals and clear vision for 2026. Make it easy for people to give and celebrate every win enthusiastically.
Throughout: Financial Review Meet with your finance team monthly to assess progress. Cut what’s not working without hesitation. Invest in what is producing fruit. Be ruthless about aligning spending with mission.
You Can Turn This Around
I’ve seen churches come back from worse situations than what you’re facing.
Churches that lost 60% of their attendance and rebuilt stronger than before. Others faced massive budget shortfalls and ended the year in the black. Some were ready to close their doors and are now thriving with renewed purpose.
It happens when leaders refuse to give up and get laser-focused on the mission.
Stop obsessing over what you lost. Start celebrating what you still have: a committed core, a clear mission, a God who hasn’t changed.
The mission is still the mission. People still need Jesus desperately. Your community still needs the church to be the church.
Don’t give up. The turnaround starts now.
Focus on the lost with renewed passion. Cast compelling vision consistently. Challenge your people to generosity without apology. Cut the fluff ruthlessly. Invest in mission strategically.
Do these things consistently for the next year, and you’ll be amazed at what God does.
The story isn’t over. The best chapters might still be ahead.
Jeff Hoglen is the author of Church Planting Done Different and has been planting and supporting churches for over two decades. He serves as CEO of churchplanting.com and leads RockFish Church in the Philippines.
Read more blog posts by Jeff Hoglen HERE.
Attendance and giving problems often require a broader strategy to turn around a declining church.
