According to Church pastors in the country, there is a considerable decline in Church attendance in rural churches in the country.
One pastor from Kunming said that "When I deliver sermons in rural areas, I often see rural churches which are desolate and required the need to preaches and followers as the younger generation are now starting to move out of these areas to look for work in the cities.
In his visit to one church, the pastor only had ten parishioners to listen to his sermon in comparison to the previous large numbers in the past. He cites that the possible for the drop of parishioners can be attributed to the fact the parishioners are busy with farm work or they are captured by heretics. Some may even be a part of the Seventh-day Adventist.
For the Panlong District of Kunming's TSPM President Rev. Jing Jiuwei in one of his speeaches for an anti-heresy training program in May, the possible reason why these rural churches no longer have the same following is due to the fact the parishioners only focus on making money rather than understand the importance of church life. They become blinded by the gods of the ages. The narrow-minded nature of church leaders is also a reason why turn out is law because they could no longer entice followers with the same practices. The lack of preachers is also a factor for the smaller turnout, affecting the capacity of the congregation to preach and deliver the message of God.
Rev. Jing also said that seminary graduates no longer wish to serve in their hometowns due to a variety of factors that influences their service in the area. The presence of heresies also influence Christians to follow them. He also added that migration to urban areas is also a major reason why rural churches lose their following.
