Building Bridges to the Unchurched in the 21st Century

Source: Thom Rainer, American Society for Church Growth

Effective Evangelistic Churches

• Top 5% of evangelical churches– 4000 churches surveyed (2000 in control

group)

• Criteria– a). 26 “reaches” per year (conversion into

fruitful discipleship)– b). Conversion ratio of < 20:1

Seven Things that Mattered to the Formerly Unchurched

• What did people who were neither in relationship with Christ nor in a church say were the seven key factors that brought them into faith and productive discipleship?

• What 7 things did they say mattered to them?

1. Relationships matter.

• Relationships are important to them -- especially family relationships.

• 85% of people who join a church say they came because a friend/neighbor/family member asked them to

• 2/3 said it was a family member

2. Age matters.

• The most receptive--and needy--unchurched group are the “Bridgers”

• Asking Evangelism Explosion questions to determine whether people were Christian– Builders (pre-1946): 65% said yes– Boomers (1946-64): 35%– Busters (1964-76): 15%– Bridgers (or “Millennials”, 1977-94): 4%

Being strategic to reach young people

• 71% of 2000 effective evangelistic churches have intentional strategies for reaching young people

• Note how cults and other religions target and reach the millennials– Islam: reaching 10% of bridger generation

– Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons: 6-8%

– Evangelical Christianity: 4%

• YEC “harvest” strategy

3. Expectations matter.

• The formerly churched join high-expectation churches.– vs. “voluntary association” churches

• Main requirements: entry-point classes

4. Personal evangelism matters.

• 72% of these people say that someone in the church shared Christ with them one-on-one

5. Leadership matters.

• Especially the leadership of the senior/solo pastor

Excursus: “Five Characteristics of pastors who lead effective

evangelistic churches”

• a). They have a high view of Scripture

• b). Were “down to earth”

• c). Had a sense of humor

Five Characteristics of pastors who lead effective evangelistic

churches

• d). 3/4 spend time in weekly personal evangelism

• e). 1/2 held themselves accountable to someone weekly for personal evangelism– These pastors advocated and modeled personal

evangelism

6. Preaching matters.

• Survey asked what ministry tasks excited effective evangelistic church pastors “most” and “least”

Most and Least Exciting Tasks

• Most: – 1. Preaching– 2. Evangelism (Personal and Congregational)

• Least: – 1. Committee meetings– 2. Pastoral care (weddings, funerals, visitation,

counseling)

Time Spent on Preaching

• In effective evangelistic churches, pastors spent an average of 10 hours per week/per presentation– vs. 2 hours in control group

• 90% of effective evangelistic church pastors list preaching as #1 exciting ministry task– 42% of control group

The 2 Main Characteristics of Good Preaching identified by the

formerly unchurched:

• 1. Is understandable.

• 2. Is text-driven.– not necessarily expository

7. Quality matters. • A). Music

– whether contemporary, blended, traditional

• B). Facilities– building committee stipend to unchurched woman

every 6 months to implement changes

• C). Small Groups and/or Sunday School– 85% of people in effective churches in one– 65% of people in control group in one

Conclusion

• It takes 85 people one year to reach one person in the typical American evangelical church

• Only 3-4% of evangelical churches qualify as “effective” (26 reaches, 20:1 ratio)

Conclusion: “What Matters?”

• If we are going to reach unchurched people, we have to listen to what their recent ex-members tell us matters!

• Relationships• Age• Expectations• Personal Evangelism• Leadership• Preaching• Quality

Building Bridges to the Unchurched in the 21st Century

Dr. John P. Chandler

The Ray and Ann Spence Network for Congregational Leadership

www.rasnet.org Copyright John P. Chandler, 2000