"In the last decade, membership in the Christian Reformed Church has dropped more than 13 percent. Synod 2017 discussed this trend and encouraged churches and denominational staff to make church renewal a priority."
This is just one of several sources you would find doing a quick Google search.
In my observation, I have noticed a trend, the more Calvinist the doctrines are, the greater the decline. However, admittedly this is riddled with bias. But eh...[emoji19]. Is it the Calvinist doctrine the problem that is causing members to leave?
The Christian Reformed Church (CRC) is a Dutch Reformed denomination. It is dying. It is an old denomination that has fallen victim to its traditions.
You need to do some research on Reformed Baptist churches. These churches are growing and not just because of their Monergistic theology. Many Christians yearn for meat from the pulpit.
Perhaps you are right. I think a lot of people are looking for "meat". Is the SBC Reformed? If not, can you point me to the ones that are experiencing growth?
If the directory is half way accurate, there is not a reformed church within 50 miles of me. I can't think of a SBC church in my county that is reformed. Of course, the two Presbyterian churches are reformed.
A SBC church in the neighboring county has a reformed pastor, but he's in the closet. I know because we are good friends.
I believe part of the explanation is lack of understanding among the Millennials about the Christian message in general, for example, that the neighbour and God are more important in our lives and that we thus cannot be the most important person in our life.
I know this is not a particular problem for the Christian Reformed Church but a problem for the church in general.
Nevertheless, I think it explains a lot.
I am not denying that Reformed Baptist Churches are a minority. They are and are likely to remain that way. My point is that they are growing. There are also Sovereign Grace Baptists, Founders Movement churches, Acts 29 Network churches...I can go on. The OP focused on why Reformed churches are dying, using the CRC denomination as an example. While the Dutch Reformed denomination is in poor shape, it is not representative of all Reformed churches.
And one more thing. Monergism does not automatically equal "Reformed". There are some Presbyterians that almost lose their sanctification at the idea Baptists can be Reformed. To them Reformed and paedobaptism are inexorably linked. Reformed (in the Baptist sense) includes confessionalism and a conservative view of the Lord's day.
You need to factor in population shifts.
Many people are leaving the Rust Belt, Midwest, and Northeast seeking employment, retiring, etc.
Some denominations are centered mainly in these shrinking states (Michigan and Iowa in the case of the Christian Reformed Church).
Similar for microdenominations, which have no churches at all in many states, and just one or a few in the rest; they lose people when they migrate.
It has happened over disagreement in interpreting a couple of words in a Confession.
One microdenomination (Reformed's second suggested link) dropped from eighty to sixty churches in a single year over such an issue: whether "an emotional change in God of any kind would necessarily entail a change in the essence and existence of God."
The Christian Reformed denomination also happens to be one of the more liberal of such in the USA, comparable in many respects to the United Church of Christ. It is apples and oranges when comparing them to various other "Reformed" churches.
Ok. I did some research. I have found that all reformed denominations are rapidly in decline. They are greatly losing to the Non-denominational churches according to factchecker.org.