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In Surprising Insights from the Unchurched and Proven Ways to Reach Them, Thom S. Rainer shares the results of his in depth research of a group he calls the formerly unchurched. Rather than ask the unbeliever what might make them want to go to church, his team interviewed over 350 people who previously did not go to church but now do so regularly, regarding the cause of their change of heart and mind. The idea is that surveying such people gives an important insight into factors that are actually leading people to join churches and become Christians. Dr. Rainer also interviewed pastors of “effective evangelistic churches,” churches that have had at least 26 conversions per year and a conversion ratio of less than 20:1 (membership/annual conversion). The churches and interviewees cross denominational and geographical boundaries. I have read through and read again the part of the book dealing with interviews with the formerly unchurched. I am still working through the rest of the book which focuses on the interviews of evangelistically successful pastors. The first issue I will discuss the numbers for is the reason the formerly unchurched ended up choosing the church they joined. This is a different, albeit related, issue than why the person may have given church a chance at all. The book does not seem to spend as much time on that issue, although it does emphasize that an important reason for many of the formerly unchurched who decided to visit was that they were going through crisis in their lives, such as a divorce, custody battle, or loss of a loved one. When asked what factors led the person to choose the church they joined: 90% -- Pastor/Preaching 88% -- Doctrines 49% -- Friendliness of Members 42% -- Other Issues 41% -- Someone from the church witnessed to the person 38% -- Family Members Attend 37% -- Sense God’s Presence/Atmosphere of Church 25% -- Relationship Other Than Family Members 25% -- Sunday School Class 25% -- Children’s/Youth Ministry 12% -- Other Groups/Ministries 11% -- Worship Style/Music 7% -- Location The importance of pastors may seem obvious at one level, but just what was it about these pastors that proved so decisive in drawing the formerly unchurched into their churches? The most common response about the pastor was that he preached in a way that teaches, such as expository teaching about the Bible. The formerly unchurched were interested in learning about the Bible. Next up was preaching that applies to the person’s life. Other important pastoral characteristics were the authenticity of the pastor, the pastor’s conviction, the communication and leadership skills of the pastor, and having had personal contact with the pastor. Dr. Rainer also studied what issues were important to the formerly unchurched after the visited but before they joined. In other words, what first impressions made a difference: -Adequate parking -Clean facilities -Modern facilities -High-quality preschool/nursery -Variety of quality programs -Relevant and quality music -Clean bathrooms -Friendly people -Outgoing greeters -Clearly marked and functional welcome center -Good signage -Comfortable pews/chairs -Attention-holding preaching Dr. Rainer also writes about certain “myths” that his research contradicts. Here are three of them. 1. The Unchurched are Turned Off by Denominational Name Brands 80% of respondents said that the name of the church had little or no influence on their decision to join the church. To the extent the name had an affect, 66% of the time it was a positive one. 2. Deep and Involved Biblical Teaching Turns off the Unchurched The unchurched, even more than the transfers from other churches, were concerned about the doctrine of the church. 91% of the formerly unchurched said the beliefs of the church were an important factor in choosing the church they joined. Contrary to many people’s thinking, the formerly unchurched were more interested in small groups and Sunday School than transfers from other churches. 3. The Most Important Evangelistic Relationships take Place in the Marketplace Focusing on the marketplace is a common emphasis of evangelism courses and books. This is understandable, because for many of us that is where we are most likely to have sufficiently close relationships to share the gospel with some hope of getting a hearing. However, when asked which person was the greatest influence in the formerly unchurched deciding to join a church, “coworker” was the answer for 8% of respondents. Number one was “Family Member,” at 43%, with 35% of those being wives, 18% being children, and 9% being parents.
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Atheists often demonstrate more zeal for their lack of faith than many Christians do for their faith. Why is that? When I was balancing belief and non-belief, it seemed to me that the choice was between something that offered meaning and Nihilism. It never occurred to me to believe so there would be meaning or to disbelief to escape the burdens of belief. That was simply the choice.
The human yearning for meaning, however, appears to transcend the logical extension of disbelief. This explains why atheist regimes have much more blood on their hands in the last few hundred years than Christians have compiled in its lengthier track record. (For a breakdown of the numbers, check out Richard Deem's article on the topic). It is hard to imagine an atheist believing in something so strongly that they would be willing to die for it, much less kill for it. But millions of victims of atheist states of the 20th Century bear witness to the contrary. Despite arguing that there is no transcendent being or meaning, atheists have again and again found sufficient meaning to kill and oppress. And too often, as with Christians who have done the same, the killing and oppressing was done in the name of what is otherwise a worthy cause. For atheist communists, meaning was attached to the State above all else. For the secularists of the French Revolution, reason and liberty were the values that lead to slaughter on a grand scale. As one victim of the Reign of Terror remarked on her way to be beheaded, "Liberty, what crimes are committed in your name."
New Atheist arguments seeking to pin atrocities on Christianity have force because atrocities have been committed in the name of Christ. The atrocities stand out all the more, however, because they can be criticized on the purported basis upon which they were committed. The same cannot be said for the crimes of atheism. Moreover, great good has been done because of the values of Christianity (such as the abolition of slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, stigmatizing and criminalizing infanticide, and promoting charity). Atheism lacks a comparable track record of benevolence, nor is there any reason to suppose it would produce one. Nor is there any countervailing beliefs within atheism to mitigate against descents into extremism.
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This is the San Fernando Valley, our home and the focus of our Church’s effort to gather the scattered and reach out to the unchurched and nonbeliever. I recently developed a greater appreciation for the San Fernando Valley at a friend’s wedding. The wedding was held at Bel Aire Presbyterian Church. The church has a beautiful building with the most scenic views of the Valley that I have ever seen. I felt kind of like Joshua and Caleb scouting out the Promised Land. This was one of the pictures I took from that vantage point. It looks North over the Valley from the South. As a point of further reference, near the middle of the picture and somewhat in the distance is Van Nuys Airport.
After the wedding, I did a little research to better understand the the focus of Pathway Christian Fellowship’s ministry. The Valley, of course, is a part of Los Angeles. It is largely suburban and has a population of around 2 million people (the Los Angeles Metro area has approximately 13 million residents). One thing that is quickly apparent is that the Valley is a very diverse place. The diversity is not only racial, but is reflected in almost every category, including economic status, education, age, and even home ownership.
There are approximately equal numbers of Latinos and non-Hispanic Whites (at about 40% each), with significant populations of Armenians, Asians, and African-Americans. The medium income is above-average for the Los Angeles area, but the disparity is wide with areas of great prosperity and areas with incomes much lower than the national average. The population of the Valley is about equally divided between home owners and renters.
The Valley is also full of young people, with a significant presence of older residents. 26% of the Valley is under 18 years old, with the demographics of that group trending Latino. Around 15% of the Valley is over 65 years old, with that demographic skewing to non-Hispanic Whites. As for education, almost 27% of Valley residents age 25 or older have not completed high school. On the other hand, over 30% of Valley residents in that age group have an Associates Degree or higher.
Although I have not been able to find statistics specific to the Valley regarding religious adherence, in the Los Angeles area the Catholic Church is the single largest Christian denomination, with around 4 million adherents. This far outnumbers all other Christian denominations, with Evangelicals at around 600,000 and mainline Protestants at around 340,000. Eastern Orthodox numbers are around 30,000. As for atheists, I have not found a count, but there are well over a dozen atheist outreach organizations in the Los Angeles area.
It is obvious from the religious statistics that there is much work to be done in the Valley (and Los Angeles). Moreover, the goal is not just to raise the numbers for Christians, but to minister to new followers of Christ and those who are already believers. The work does not stop once people join a church or make a profession of faith. That is the starting point in many ways, and much teaching, discipling, encouragement, and fellowship lays ahead. But while much is to be done, there are enormous resources with which to do it. God has been equipping Pathway Christian Fellowship to reach out to this Valley. God does not give missions without provisions. The burden and blessing, however, are not ours alone. There are tens of thousands of other committed Christians with which to work. Indeed, one of the things I look forward to is meeting and developing relationships with other churches and Christians who have the same burden for their community as do we. This may sound like a lot to get out of one picture. But it is funny how that one visual perspective helped changed my mental and spiritual perspective.
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I am an aspiring amateur astronomer. That is, I aspire to have enough time to even be considered an amateur in this field. I have a small telescope, several books, a pair of gigantic binoculars, and a subscription to Sky & Telescope. Of these, the subscription gets the most use.
Anyway, I ran across this little entry noting some new discoveries that indicate the earth's privileged status is the result of even more unique processes than we knew:
Genesis: Earth is Weird
When NASA's Genesis spacecraft crash-landed in the Utah desert in 2004 after collecting samples of the solar wind, the mission seemed lost. But scientists have painstakingly salvaged the solar-wind samples, and these tell an odd story.
The Sun's oxygen-isotope ratios don't match Earth's. Instead, they match those of the earliest meteorites. So, when the solar system was forming, it's Earth that somehow became the oddball, not the meteorites as scientists had assumed. Now there is "no plausible model" to make Earth with the oxygen ratios it exhibits. Kevin McKeegan (UCLA) told the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in March. "It's always been a challenge to supply Earth with the water it has. Now we're wondering how it got the rocks it has."
Sky & Telescope, July 2008, page 16.
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I have been reading Timothy Keller's The Reason for God. Although I might not classify him as an academic heavy hitter apologetically speaking, he has a knack -- somewhat like C.S. Lewis -- of putting his finger on important points and evaluating claims and evidences from a novel perspective.
In the Introduction, Pastor Keller has a section titled, "The Enemies are Both Right." He points out that many skeptics would claim that the fundamentalists are a rising threat, gaining ever more political power and growing mega-churches. On the other hand, conservative Christians see ever increasing skepticism and hostility in major universities and media companies. So Pastor Keller asks the question, "Is skepticism or faith on the ascendancy in the world today?" As the section title suggests, he thinks both are right. "Skepticism, fear, and anger toward traditional religion is growing in power and influence. But at the same time, robust, orthodox belief in the traditional faiths is growing as well."
It is undisputed that church attendance has declined somewhat in the United States. Those marking "no religion" to poll questions has increased more significantly. Chalk those up for the "skeptics are winning" column. On the other hand, the share of conservative religious believers among those who go to church has dramatically increased. Belief in miracles and charismatic expressions of Christianity are growing in the United States and exploding in other parts of the world. In academia, all is not lost to secularists. "It is estimated that 10 to 25 percent of all the teachers and professors of philosophy in the country are orthodox Christians." Leading Christian scholars, such as Richard Swinburne, N.T. Wright, and Alvin Plantinga are recognized leaders in their fields, not just in the Christian Churches.
In short, the world is polarizing over religion. It is getting both more religious and less religious at the same time. There was once a confident belief that secular European countries were the harbingers for the rest of the world. Religion, it was thought, would think out from its more robust, supernaturalist forms or die out altogether. But the theory that technological advancement brings inevitable secularization is now being scrapped or radically rethought. Even Europe may not face a secular future, with Christianity growing modestly and Islam growing exponentially.
Keller, op. cit., at x.
So whether we like it or not, it appears that the Skepticism versus Christianity divide is in for the long haul.
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