Back When People Bought Tickets To Attend Church

Luke 14:21-23, “So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.”

Dwight Lyman Moody (1837-1899) was known for his innovative methods of attracting children (e.g., free pony rides and candy) and adults to his Sunday school and church services, often using engaging activities and personal outreach.

Pastor Moody purchased seats in churches so that poor children could attend, as seats were sold like concert tickets at that time. Wow, can you imagine that? It's hard to just get people to come to church nowadays, but back then churches sold tickets! It is quite obvious how the television has woefully diminished church attendance. I wish the television has never been invented. Our world was much better off when life was simple and mundane, so that nearly everyone looked forward to going to church on Sundays. Tragically, the entertainment industry has led America to apostasy!

By purchasing church seat tickets, Pastor Moody aimed to include those who otherwise could not afford to go to church. What a faithful servant of our great Savior!

In 1900, church attendance in the United States was significant, with about 36% of the population attending services regularly.

In 2026, church attendance in the U.S. has stabilized after years of decline, with about 20% of adults attending weekly and around 41% attending at least once a month. SOURCE

Americans are leaving the churches by the droves! I think it was beautiful back when so many people in the United States wanted to attend church that they had to sell tickets.

God deliver us from today's shameful neo-evangelical churches, and corrupt neo-evangelical Bible colleges like Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary, Moody Bible Institute, Pensacola Christian College, Bob Jones University and Southern Theological Baptist Seminary, to name but just a few cesspools of spiritual sewage, rot and iniquity. Sadly, 99% of clergy today are only in the ministry for the INCOME, not the OUTCOME. I started my Jesus-is-Savior.com website ministry 24 years ago in April of 2002 for the OUTCOME, there has never been (nor ever will be) any INCOME. The LORD deserves our very best.

That all being said, I cannot blame people for not wanting to go to dead churches anymore. You'd be much better off just staying home and listening to fundamentalist Bible preaching on the internet, than to attend a rotten neo-evangelical cult like Family Baptist Church in Pensacola that preaches Satan's lies of Lordship Salvation [i.e., mixing service (works) with salvation (grace)], and Wrong Repentance (i.e., repenting of your sinful behavior) to be saved. Tragically, most Baptist pastors today are woefully unlearned concerning the inspired Holy Bible, corrupted clowns who arrogantly refuse to repent of their perverse thinking, fools.

One of the biggest mistakes you'll ever make is to trust and rely upon your pastor to keep you spiritual. If you're not careful, he'll lead you away from God and the truth, and ultimately take you to Hell with himself forever. RIGHT DOCTRINE MATTERS!!!