One area of improvement is preaching. Granted that too much preaching is still shallow and more fluff than food, a growing segment of the clergy is more dedicated to solid study and preaching. The silly, shallow, and embarrassing cheap sermon can still be heard, but it is losing ground to solid Biblical preaching. We do need more of the approach of the church fathers, who went through entire books of the Bible week after week, and who gave to the church a very sound knowledge of Scripture. An area of decline has been pastoral visitation, the regular calls on all families and on shut-ins.
Some pastors do almost no visitation.
Granted, this is time-consuming work, but it is necessary. In one church, I had a happy solution, elderly women who did excellent calling, and an old and very wonderful former Scottish elder and his wife, who called faithfully and told me of any person or family needing my attention. Clearly, if all the work is left to the pastor, he will be over-worked and at times pushed into a premature retirement. Churches need to examine the pastor's duties and to see how the work can be best accomplished. One value of the participation of others in such tasks is that it carries weight for people to see members actively involved in the church's work.