The Effect of the Members’ Religious Activity and the Church’s Clergy on Church Growth by the Example of Estonian Protestant Churches

Abstract

The article aims to examine religious activity in Christian churches. In order to achieve this goal, religious activity is defined through religious practices such as church attendance, prayer, and Bible reading. The data used in the article are taken from a survey of growing churches (hereafter referred to as KK2020, n=350), in which nine Estonian growing churches participated. The main comparative base is the sociological survey on religion “On Life, Faith and Religious Life” (EUU2020, n=1000), conducted in Estonia. As a result of the analysis, the article presents an overview of religious activity indicators for growing churches, ordinary churches, and the adult Estonian population and compares growing churches of different denominations. Based on the results, it can be hypothesized that religious activity of church members and minister has positive influence on church growth.