Unchurched adults seeking a congregation aren’t as likely to visit one in person as a church member shopping for a new congregation, according to several recent LifeWay Research studies.
Because of this, the researchers say, effective evangelism must take place beyond church buildings, beginning with relationships between Christians and unbelievers.
A survey of 1,684 adults who had not "attended a religious service in a church, synagogue or mosque, other than for a religious holiday or for a special event such as a wedding or funeral at any time in the past six months" found that only 49 percent would visit in person if they were looking for a church.
By contrast, 83 percent of church switchers responded in an earlier survey that they made an in-person visit when they "actively searched for a new church." More than half of the unchurched people surveyed would follow a recommendation from family, friends, neighbors or colleagues if they were looking for a church, but 24 percent said they didn’t really see themselves using any of the usual ways of finding a church.
"The location of our evangelism needs to shift if we want to reach the unchurched and not just move sheep around," said Ed Stetzer, director of LifeWay Research. "At LifeWay Research we want to encourage churches to grow through conversion. To do that, they must not rely only on the unchurched visiting our churches. Church switchers are primarily the ones who visit churches. The unchurched stay home.
"So, if you build your outreach on recruiting and reaching church visitors you will often build a church on church switchers," Stetzer said.
"For several decades we have focused on come and see, invest and invite, bring your friends to church by attracting them with a great program," he said. "We call that attractional ministry. Now we are facing the reality that fewer unchurched people are willing to visit a Christian church.
"This will compel us to embrace a go and tell — or incarnational — approach," he said. "Should we invite our friends to church? Sure. But should we be, do and tell the gospel to people in culture? You bet. It is not only biblical, but it is even more essential today as our culture grows increasingly resistant to the church." (BP)
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