Unchurched, De-churched and Never-Churched

Empirical Data Insights From Rainer’s Book on the

Formerly Unchurched Unchurched Next Door Evangelism Data

If you were looking for a church what kinds of

things would you look for?

Unchurched Views

Unchurched Views

Outsider from Mississippi*

Christianity has become bloated with blind followers who would

rather repeat slogans than actually feel true compassion and care.

Christianity has become markets and streamlined into a juggernaut of

fear mongering that has

lost its own heart.

* Kinneman & Lyon, UnChristian, 15.

Why do you think people don’t attend places

of worship?

Unchurched Views

From Dan Kimball – The Like Jesus But Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations

Unchurched Views

Unchurched Views

Dan Kimball – The Like Jesus But Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations

1. The Church is Negative, Judgmental, and Political

2. The Church Restricts and Oppresses Women   

3. The Church is Homophobic   

4. Christians Arrogantly Think All Other Religions Are Wrong   

5. The Church is Full of Christian Fundamentalists Who Take the Whole Bible Literally

They Like Jesus But Not the Church

Unchurched Views

Thom S. Rainer– Surprising Insights from the Formerly Unchurched- And Proven Ways to Reach Them

Formerly Unchurched Views 353 Persons Interviewed – defined as

persons who for all or larger portion of their lives were not in a church but became active in within the last 2 years.

“Effective” vs. “Comparison” churches: At least 26 conversion per year, and membership/conversion ratio of 20:1 (only 4% of U.S. churches); national norm 85:1.

Surprising Insights From The Unchurched, Tom Rainer, Zondervan, 2001.

Formerly Unchurched

Views

Formerly Unchurched Views

Formerly Unchurched

Views

Formerly Unchurched Views

Percent Rating “Extremely Important”

Formerly Unchurched Views

Formerly Unchurched Views

Formerly Unchurched Views

“If there was a single characteristic that separated the pastors of effective churches from other pastors, it was the issue of accountability in personal evangelism” Rainer, p. 162

Unchurched Views

Thom S. Rainer– Unchurched Next Door – Understanding Faith Stages as Keys To Sharing Your Faith

306 Interviews of people all across U.S.

Represented every conceivable demographic area of America

Can these qualitative results be extrapolated to the greater pop.?

Unchurched Next Door

#1: Most of the unchurched prefer to attend church on Sunday morning if they attend.

#2: Females are likely to be either the most antagonistic or the most receptive to the gospel.

#3: Most of the unchurched feel guilty about not attending church.

#4: 82% of the unchurched are at least “somewhat likely” to attend church if they are invited.

Unchurched Next Door – 10 Surprises:

#5: Very few of the unchurched have had someone share with them how to become a Christian. And Christians have not been particularly influential in their lives.

#6: Most of the unchurched have a positive view about pastors, ministers, and the church.

#7: Some types of “cold calls” are effective; many are not.

Unchurched Next Door – 10 Surprises:

#8: The unchurched would like to develop a real and sincere relationship with a Christian.

#9: The attitudes of the unchurched are not correlated to where they live, their ethnic or racial background, or their gender.

#10. Many of the unchurched are far more concerned about the spiritual well-being of their children than of themselves.

Unchurched Next Door – 10 Surprises:

#1: The unchurched are not antichurch.

#2: Over 17 million people will accept Christ if presented with the gospel. Another 43 million are close.

#3: Most unchurched persons believe in the existence of both heaven and hell.

#4: September 11 taught us an important lesson about the unchurched.

#5: Unchurched persons are nervous but willing to talk about matters of faith.

Unchurched Next Door – Profile of Unchurched:

#6: Most of the unchurched have a fairly high view of the Bible.

#7: Most of the unchurched would rather talk to a layperson than a minister about religious matters.

Unchurched Next Door – Profile of Unchurched:

“‘You know,’ commented Harland, ‘the two ministers who talked to me were nice enough but, I mean, like that’s their job. But I’d like to get into a conversation with a church person that’s a normal person like me. Why is it that regular church members never talk about religious stuff?’”

Unchurched Next Door – Profile of Unchurched:

“The sad reality we discovered in our study was that very few of the unchurched population have heard about Christ from a layperson. Yet the unchurched as a rule would like to talk to someone other than clergy about religious matters. The silence of Christians may be one of the greatest tragedies in the church today.”

Unchurched Next Door – Profile of Unchurched:

#8: Easter is still a key time to invite the unchurched.

#9: Many of the unchurched wonder why their Christian neighbors and coworkers do not invite them to church.

Unchurched Next Door – Profile of Unchurched:

“We talk about a bunch of stuff. But I have never heard them say anything about their church, God, or anything religious. Why is that? If church matters so much to them, why don’t they ever say anything about it?”

Unchurched Next Door – Profile of Unchurched:

#10: Most of the unchurched have a spiritual view of life.

Unchurched Next Door – Profile of Unchurched:

If you could give some advice to a local church

what would it be?

Unchurched Views

What is Your Attitude toward the Church?

U5 Antagonistic 5%

U4 Resistant 21%

U3 Neutral 36%

U2 Friendly 27%

U1 Very Friendly 11%

Unchurched Next Door

Belief among the Unchurchedin the Existence of Heaven

Believe heaven exists 79%

Do not believe heaven exists 13%

Don’t know/other 8%

Unchurched Next Door

Do You Believe in the Existence of Hell?

Yes No Don’t Know/Other

U1 96% 4% 0%

U2 82% 6% 12%

U3 70% 21% 9%

U4 51% 41% 8%

U5 20% 67% 13%

All 70% 21% 9%UnChurched

Unchurched Next Door

What Is Your View of the Bible?

Totally Truthful Some Truth Myth Don’t Know

U1 55% 33% 0% 12%

U2 43% 41% 2% 14%

U3 24% 55% 1% 20%

U4 10% 51% 14% 25%

U5 0% 40% 33% 27%

All 30% 46% 5% 19%Unchurched

Unchurched Next Door

Why Do You Think Many People Do Not Attend Church?

All Respondents

Lazy 11%

Too Busy 34%

Not Relevant 13%

Hypocritical 10%

Other 32%

Unchurched Next Door

Positive Views of Clergy

All Respondents

U1 68%

U2 65%

U3 73%

U4 54%

U5 53%

Unchurched Next Door

“It seems as if Christians have a good opportunity to talk about spiritual matters to many unchurched persons by asking about their parents. The conversations that follow are often prime opportunities to talk about Christ.” (p. 165)

Over 80% of those who were not Antagonistic or Resistant said they would be interested in a Bible Study or learning more about Jesus

Over 90% of those same folks said they would attend a church if someone invited them.

#1: Spiritual Lethargy

“Lack of spiritual growth inevitably leads to a diminished desire to share Christ with others.”

#2: Growing Inclusivism

#3: The Growing Disbelief in Hell

#4: Busyness

#5: Fear of Rejection

#6: A Desire to Be Tolerant

Unchurched Next Door – 10 reasons we have not reached the Unchurched

#7: Losing the Habit of Witnessing

#8: Lack of Accountability

#9: Failure to Invite

#10: We Go to Churches That Do Not Reach the Unchurched

“More than 8 out of 10 of all the unchurched said they would come if invited by a Christian.

Unchurched Next Door – 10 reasons we have not reached the Unchurched

Conversion & Evangelism Methods Study

Levels of Satisfaction, Preparation & Comfort based on EvangelismInvolvement.

3.816 3.590 3.778

89 92 91

4.302 4.106 4.183

390 389 388

5.218 5.030 5.124

207 207 207

5.204 4.838 5.419

27 26 27

5.520 5.241 5.546

40 39 39

4.593 4.381 4.508

753 753 752

Mean

N

Mean

N

Mean

N

Mean

N

Mean

N

Mean

N

Evangelism InvolvementCategoriesNone in Last Year

1-3x

4-15x

16-25x

26-50x

Total

SatisfactionLevel of Prior

Evang.

PreparationLevel of Prior

Evang.

ComfortLevel of Prior

Evang.

Conversion & Evangelism Methods Study

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What are some of the more significant insights you’ve gained from this data on the state of the church today?

How might these impact your preaching in your particular context?

Your conclusions: