Church Survival in a ‘Post-Christian’ City: Findings from a Mixed-Method Study on How Boston’s New Churches Have Endured Over a Decade

This presentation will cover findings, methods, and limitations of The Church Landscape Review (CLR), a ten year study that revisits 41 church plants first surveyed in 2014. In 2014, 100 church plants in the Boston area were identified, and of the 100, lead pastors of 41 of these churches were interviewed. This research revisits these church plants first interviewed in 2014, analyzing how they adapted or persisted over the past decade. 
This paper will examine the long-term sustainability of church plants in Boston, a city where secularization, high real estate costs, and demographic shifts challenge congregational longevity. Methodologically, this study integrates pre-post quantitative and qualitative research while incorporating Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) to engage local pastors as long-term partners rather than subjects. Through the findings of the CLR, this paper will challenge static models of church decline, illustrating how congregations persist through strategic and theological flexibility.