So I’m just going to come right out and say it: It’s more than likely the people in your community who aren’t “attending church” have no interest in attending yours.
None whatsoever.
It doesn’t matter how kickin’ your band is. It doesn’t matter how fantabulous your children’s ministry is, how spiffy your super-friendly guest services team looks in their new polo shirts or how relevant the teaching is—even if it’s delivered by an incredibly hip dude with a Mumford-esque beard, black-framed glasses and Toms. It doesn’t even matter how consistently you adhere to your brand standards. (I know! Gasp!)
It’s not you, though.
The truth is those folks who don’t attend church aren’t interested in attending any church.
But it’s not them either.
It’s us—the Church.
This isn’t news to you though, right? I mean, maybe it’s news that your community’s disinterest in church extends even to your church. If that’s the case, I love you guys and I’m sorry for just sort of dumping that on you. But I also encourage you to set aside your, “Yeah but we…” and your “Except we’re the best at…” and realize this: For more than 60% of people—and that number is growing—the Sunday morning worship gathering is no longer the primary on-ramp to a life of faith. (Is that number a universal stat? No. But if you follow the link and read the details, it’s an accepted reality among the experts.)
Simply put: People don’t see church attendance making any difference in the lives of most—or any—Christians they know, so they aren’t inclined to participate. So if we keep running the same plays—developing meaningful worship gatherings and equipping our folks to invite their friends to said gatherings—we’re done for. More importantly, our message is done for.
Some Tough Questions
What does this have to do with church communication? I happen to believe that everything we do in our churches communicates something.
Case in point: If we focus the majority of our energy, attention and resources on our worship gatherings—even though we know fewer and fewer people are likely to attend them—we’re communicating that we flat don’t care about folks who don’t know God loves them. Harsh? Yes. True? Yes. You and I, therefore, need to ask some tough questions:
- If it’s true that fewer and fewer people will first get connected to a community of faith via a worship service, what other on-ramps could we offer?
- If we already have non-worship-related “stuff,” happening, is it all located on our church campus? Could it happen elsewhere in the community?
- What would it look like to shift some financial resources away from our worship gatherings and toward intentional outreach efforts?
- How can we think more creatively about outreach—beyond direct mail and billboards?
- And how about those folks who are engaged in our worship gatherings? Are they leading compelling lives outside that one hour each weekend? Is that hour making any difference at all in how they treat people, spend their time, and use their resources? If not, why not, and what can we do about that?
- What does our communication—both internally and externally—say about our feelings toward people who don’t attend church? Are we judgmental? Condescending?
Some Bold Ideas
If you’re thinking, “Holy cow, you’re talking about a significant shift in how we even do ministry around here!”
Yeah, maybe.
To be clear, though, I’m not talking about canning your worship services altogether. I’m only suggesting you not make it the biggest, best thing you do. Yes, really. What about trying these:
- Teach your congregation that “mission” isn’t an event, and “evangelism” isn’t simply inviting people to church.
- Develop regular serving opportunities in the community, and equip your folks to invite their friends to those. When your people ask, “What to come to church with me?” they’ll likely get a “No, thanks.” But they may get an “Absolutely” to “Want to come over and make some sandwiches for the homeless shelter?” or “Some friends and I are helping to paint the community center. Want to come?”
- Get super strategic with social media. Do you tend to spend most of your Facebook real estate recruiting volunteers or inviting people to on-campus events or services? What if, instead, you share stories of how your church family is doing tangible good in your community? And then you taught your congregation to share those stories?
- Pay close attention to significant community or national events. Host a panel discussion of local leaders or experts on that topic—and do not include your pastors unless they happen to be one of those leaders or experts. For example, what did your church have to say about recent events in Ferguson, Mo.? Are you saying anything about sex trafficking? Does your community know you care about the world outside the church?
- Look at everything you do through the eyes of a skeptic. If you can’t find your inner skeptic, go find a real one and have some conversations.
Some Helpful Resources
I’m certainly no expert on this, but my church is trying desperately to figure it out. Following are some resources to which we’ve paid close attention:
- Anything by Michael Frost
- Barefoot Church by Brandon Hatmaker
- Surprising Insights from the Unchurched and Proven Ways to Reach Them by Thom S. Rainer
- Missional Moves by Rob Wegner and Jack Macgruder
- They Like Jesus But Not the Church by Dan Kimball
- And: The Gathered and Scattered Church by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay
Finally, I dare you to read “Church, Here’s Why People are Leaving You,” Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. Share these posts with your leadership team, staff and key volunteer leaders at your church. If your first reaction is to disregard or “yeah-but” what he’s saying, stop it. Read them again. Listen. And then start creating some other on-ramps.
What about you and your church? What on-ramps have you developed? Have you already been reallocating resources? I’d love to hear your stories.
Certification Lab
These are tough conversations—ones with which church communications folks must engage. Going it alone is difficult, though, and that’s one of the reasons we’ve developed the Certification Lab: to help you begin tough conversations and to provide a support network to surround you in the thick of it. Learn more about the Certification Lab here.
Jacquelyn Ann Donehoo
September 11, 2014
I liked the line. Look at everything you do through the eyes of a skeptic. If you can’t find your inner skeptic, go find a real one and have some conversations.
Kelley Hartnett
September 11, 2014
Thanks, Jacquelyn. Sometimes we get trapped in our Christian bubbles, and we forget what it was like to not believe–if we ever DID not believe.
Kelli Campbell
September 11, 2014
You hit the nail on the head with this article. You made some really great points. I’m currently working with a church on a marketing campaign based on encouraging those who have stopped coming to church to “come home”. My biggest challenge has been getting them to understand that the people who left and aren’t returning, did that for a reason. Maybe the focus shouldn’t be on “getting them to return”, maybe it should be, ” meeting them where they are.”
Kelley Hartnett
September 11, 2014
Kelli, you’re so right. To me, “come home” says, “We’d like to see you again, but we need you to make all the effort.” And perhaps this is over-spiritualization of the issue, but Jesus didn’t stand on a hill calling, “Yooo hooooo . . . here sheepy, sheepy, sheepy.” Of course not. He went after it.
Dan Herford
September 11, 2014
Good article.
Is the central problem that our model is off?
As long as Christians think that church is something you attend, their main effort (if they make an effort), will be to get others to attend, too. It seems to me that at some point, the existence of the the institution (which seems to require attendance to function) gets in the way of the kind of mission-shift you are calling for.
Kelley Hartnett
September 11, 2014
Hey, Dan. I just typed a brilliant response to your comment, and apparently I didn’t hit “Submit.” So, lemme try again (it won’t be nearly as brilliant this time): You ask an important question. Some days I’m not sure I have an answer to it, but today I’d say that the primary purpose of gathering is to equip people to scatter. It’s also a central place for vision-casting and the pooling of resources. I’m not sure if a “worship service” is the only way to do those things, mind you. And yes, we have to help people understand that the Church is not a place to attend. We need everyday-everywhere missionaries.
Dan Herford
September 12, 2014
I like this: “…the primary purpose of gathering is to equip people to scatter.” AND, by Smay & Halter, is in my stack of books to read…
I think that a ‘worship service’ isn’t the only way to do the things you mentioned, but I also think that we should reconsider what ‘worship service’ means, over against ways of coming together as Christ-followers in the rhythms of life. Can the church be equipped in smaller gatherings? Over a meal? In a living room?
I think that the process of decentralizing and moving away from a big-event mentality will be a big part of giving people the freedom to BE and DO, rather than just watch and support professional doers.
As committed Christians live the life of Christ together in a way that seekers and skeptics can observe, there is an opportunity for the gospel to be communicated in a way that moves past the limitations of the current ‘Sunday Show’.
Kelley Hartnett
September 14, 2014
Dan, I wish we lived in the same community so I could sit down and have a cup of coffee with you. I just found myself nodding my head through this entire comment. That’s all. :)
Andrew Fallows
September 12, 2014
I think a critical piece of the challenge is that the church is, in many respects, called to serve two audiences, and those audiences have very different needs.
Committed Christians, who have made a decision to participate in a church community and grow in their faith, need a place to be spiritually fed. Needs include time to worship, opportunities for leadership, education in more nuanced or detailed topics, and much more.
Seekers and skeptics, on the other hand, have a whole different set of questions, and a whole different vocabulary for addressing their concerns and uncertainties. Where a confident believer wants to be around others who speak with the same confidence about what we hold to be true, seekers often benefit from recognition that they are welcome, no matter what they’re sure of, no matter what they believe, no matter what their life currently looks like.
On one hand, you have, “Go and do,” and on the other you have “Come and see!” — it’s hard to bring both across at once.
There’s a lot of overlap, too: both seekers and believers want to serve their community, want to feel like they belong, want to be challenged (but also supported), and are looking for meaning in their lives and activities. Both groups have questions that they need the support of others to help answer. However, because of the differences outlined above, it can be very tricky for a church to effectively reach out to both groups; and to do it in the same service on Sunday morning is especially difficult.
Kelley Hartnett
September 14, 2014
Andrew, yep. It’s very difficult. I’m just not sure “committed Christians” need a place to be fed; I worry about the potential consumerism inherent in that statement. At the same time, I can’t necessarily disagree with the examples you offered . . . so I can talk myself right into a corner on that one. :) I’m also not sure that “Come and see!” needs to mean “Come and see our worship gathering!” which is what it means, intentionally or not, in many contexts.
Thanks so much for your thoughts. I’m digging this conversation!
Andrew Fallows
September 15, 2014
I’m actually totally with you on this part: I think “Come and see!” should NOT mean “Come and see our worship gathering!” — at least not exclusively!
I was really involved in Intervarsity in college. Occasionally, we’d invite a non-Christian to an event. The results were pretty consistent: If they were invited to a social event or a small group bible study, they were intrigued and involved, learning and sharing. Their feedback was positive. If they were invited to our Friday night large group meeting, which was basically formatted as “Prayer, Musical Worship, Message”, they were so alienated by the prayer and music that they weren’t very receptive to the message.
I don’t want to go too far down the road of avoiding worship gatherings when it comes to unchurched folks, because I think they’re important and I don’t want to convey to newcomers that either a) worship gatherings don’t actually matter or b) they haven’t made it into the “inner circle” yet because I didn’t invite them to the service. But worship gatherings rarely serve as a place for a seeker to ask questions or share their own perspective, and I’ve found that to be critical.
Kelley Hartnett
September 15, 2014
Yep! I agree with ya, Andrew. Well said!
Angee Ferris
September 15, 2014
Oh, Kelley! Thanks for getting REAL. So many great points and even practical ideas to start shifting thoughts to practical action items. THRILLED to share this article… May your words challenge and inspire us all!
Kelley Hartnett
September 15, 2014
Thanks so much, Angee.
Doug Pollock
September 17, 2014
Kelly,
Your post is a much needed goad in a church world that continues to focus on playing more “home” than “away” games. Thanks for sharing your courageous insight. You might enjoy this short read. I have a “holy hunch” it’s right up your alley. http://www.godsgps.com/storage/God%20Space%20Intro.pdf
Kelley Hartnett
September 23, 2014
Doug, I just found this comment. I’ve only just skimmed God Space, and I do believe your holy hunch is right on. Can’t wait to read it more thoroughly. Thank you for sharing!
Libby
September 17, 2014
This article — and even moreso, the discussion in the comments — really gave me a lot to think about. Thank you everyone for participating and sharing your thoughts.
Hazel
September 23, 2014
You’re right. We have one small question about this… we are working in a small new church plant, we have loads of stuff going on in the community, participating and reaching out through different activities both inside our building and in other locations. We have personal contact with a big group of people in a variety of different ways across our neighbourhood. Unfortunately we have actually got to the point where the ability to fund this outreach has become dependent on someone else actually joining the congregation and contributing to the finances. This is something I have now expereinced in two different churches, that the diminishing numbers on a Sunday become less able to finance an increasing range of activities through the rest of the week. Clearly it would be wholly wrong to try and shoe-horn people into church simply to extract their money, but at the moment we-re a bit strapped for ideas as to how else the other outreach activities are going to continue to be funded.
Kelley Hartnett
September 24, 2014
Hazel, that’s something we wrestle with in my context, too. It does seem true that a certain amount of gathering is helping to fund the scattering.
How are you currently funding projects/activities–is that coming exclusively from the church budget (e.g., from what comes in on Sunday mornings)?
How does your pastor handle conversations/teaching about money?
As I’m sure you know, church plants have to “act their age.” Is it possible you’re actually trying to do too much, too soon–rather than having a laser focus on one or two areas in which you can invest whole-heartedly? When people catch a vision of something that’s really, truly going to turn the world (or your community) upside-down, they’ll do whatever it takes to keep it going.
Are there other ways for people to contribute financially, other than getting them “to church”?
Are you telling stories so your current folks know the kind of impacting they’re making?
(That’s a lot of questions. Sorry!)
david stout
November 4, 2014
Nice article. If you are looking for someone who thinks very skeptically regarding religion yet who has no axe to grind, by all means let me know. I’ve done it for some Mormon kids, would be happy to work with evangelicals. Have a good Christmas season.
Bristol Caldwell
January 7, 2015
Right on Kelley. And ouch! by the way.
We do need to get back on track with who we are as individuals pusuing the kingdom of God in everything we do, and also unite ourselves together as the body of Christ. Why isn’t our faith impacting the world, moving mountains, raising the dead and healing people like it should?
My own personal life was in shambles and in weakness for so long. I’ve finally come to know my “Why” and now my life makes sense again as it fits in with the body of Christ, as I am only one member. When we all find our “Why”, we should all come together in a unified effort, building one another up, and causing God’s glory to shine again. Motivators and pastors like Terry Felber, Josh Tolley, and Jim Staley are great if we really follow their entrepreneurial instructions and biblical advice. It’s time for us to humble ourselves, lay down our own agendas, and act in unity. You are the light of the world today – are you reflecting the light of Christ or your own?