BusinessWeek had an article about the decline of golfing. Still plenty of interest, but people are golfing less. Related businesses are hurting, particularly those offering consumables like golf balls and tees.

Three factors inhibit the spread of golf:

1. time
2. money
3. skill

Golf is mostly a suburban, middle-class sport (I don't know anybody at my church who plays golf). It takes discretionary money, and lots of time. But to do it well, you need skill. And golf, as the article says, is not "beginner friendly." Neither is tennis, which I played. Golf and tennis are all about technique, and good technique requires years of experience.

In music, playing the piano is not beginner-friendly. It takes years of lessons to get good. Whereas you can start banging drums immediately, and it's much easier to pick up on the guitar (pick up--get it? Ha ha ha).

So I was thinking of church-related things that aren't beginner-friendly.

• Pastoral ministry--years of schooling, then you get stuck in a podunk church content with being podunk.
• Bible translation--wow, there's something that takes an enormous commitment to pull off.
• And that's all I came up with, but my mind is a bit fried right now.