Church business or a business church

From 1900 until now church membership has decreased heavily in the Netherlands. In 1899 still 98 percent was a church member in 2008 only 42 percent of this was left.1 Church attendance is even lower, in 2006 only 16 percent of the people went to church frequently.2 This development is seen as problematic in Theology, the discipline which studies the whole field of Christianity. 
It is especially under influence of the so-called ontzuiling, 'de-pillarization', and the upcoming individualization in the 1960's that church membership and attendance decreased. 3 Before 1960 everyone was part of a pillar in which all fragments of life were united and coordinated by religious institutions. The de-pillarization led to  fragmentation and individualization in society; people were now allowed to make their own decisions in work, recreation and religion on basis of their own preferences.4 
In the area of religion this led to a market situation because the organization whose religious 'products' fits the customer's preferences best is the one that gains most popularity. The decline of church membership as shown above and the upcoming of religions and ideologies like Buddhism and Pop Culture make clear that adaptation to this market situation has not really been the strength of churches. 
Churches who want to make a change and become attractive must therefore adapt their 'products' to the needs of their 'customers'. This could be done in a number of ways. Churches could formulate their message in modern language and expressions in order to bridge the gap between tradition and the modern people. Another option would be to offer more temporary courses in which people can improve themselves instead of expecting a lifelong membership and attendance. Dutch churches could also look at certain American mega churches which grew rapidly by using these strategies.5 Although it appears strange to speak of strategies, products and customers in relation to churches, it is necessary if the church wants to speak in the future at all.

1 Centraal bureau voor Statistiek, Religie aan het begin van de 21e eeuw, Den Haag 2009, p.7
2 G. Dekker & H.C. Stoffels, Godsdienst en Samenleving. Een Introductie in de Godsdienstsociologie, Kampen 2009,  p.127 
3 Religie aan het begin van de 21e eeuw, p.7
4 Godsdienst en Samenleving, p.110
5 An example is 'Saddleback Community' with their clear formulations: http://www.saddleback.com/aboutsaddleback/whatwebelieve/ and their different seminars: http://www.saddleback.com/aboutsaddleback/class/