Unchurched Prefer Cathedrals Over Contemporary Church Buildings

Unchurched Americans prefer churches that look more like a medieval cathedral over contemporary church buildings, a new study showed.

Although billions of dollars have been spent on church buildings and more contemporary designs, church attendance has declined, said Jim Couchenour, director of marketing and ministry services for Cogun Inc., a founding member of Cornerstone Knowledge Network. The network was thus prompted to ask, "As church builders what can we do to help church leaders be more intentional about reaching people who don’t go to church?"

In a study conducted by LifeWay Research for Cornerstone Knowledge Network, the unchurched preferred more traditional looking buildings by a nearly 2-to-1 ratio over any other option. Given 100 "preference points" to allocate among four photos of church exteriors, the unchurched used an average of 47.7 points on the most traditional and Gothic options.

The other three options were given only 18.5 to 15.9 points.

Read more about this study on The Christian Post.