[RC] 'Unchurched' Americans turned off by talk about life after death

[BILROJ via Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community]

 

Evangelism Using Death, Heaven, Hell Talk  Don't Work on 'Unchurched' 
Americans, Survey Finds
_www.christianpost.com_ (http://www.christianpost.com) 

 

By _Brandon  Showalter_ 
(http://www.christianpost.com/author/brandon-showalter/)  , CP Reporter
July 29, 2016|3:40  pm





Non-church-attending Americans are generally open to talking about faith 
but  few wonder about life after death – which is the tactic many Christians 
are  taught to begin conversations, a new LifeWay Research  study 
commissioned by the Billy Graham Center for Evangelism  at Wheaton College 
finds. 
Nashville-based LifeWay Research published a _study_ 
(http://lifewayresearch.com/2016/06/28/unchurched-will-talk-about-faith-not-interested-in-going-to-
church/)  Thursday  that examines the types of church activities that 
"unchurched" Americans are  interested in as well as how open they are to 
talking 
about faith. By  "unchurched" the researchers mean "those who have not 
attended a worship service  in the last six months, outside of a holiday or 
special occasion like a  wedding." Surprisingly, the survey found that more 
than 
 half of Americans who don't go to church self-identify as Christians. 
The online survey of 2,000 unchurched Americans  finds that: 
    *   about two-thirds (62 percent) would attend a meeting at a church 
about  neighborhood safety; 
    *   half would participate in a community service event (51 percent); 
    *   nearly half would go to a concert (45 percent); 
    *   nearly half would join a sports or fitness program (46 percent); 
    *   nearly half would go to a neighborhood gathering (46  percent).

The survey also finds that 66 percent of  respondents said they were either 
"unlikely" or "extremely unlikely" to attend a  worship service if invited. 
Even more respondents, 74 percent, were "unlikely"  or "extremely" to 
attend a "small group for people curious about God." 
Why Is There Such an Aversion to Church? 
Earlier this month, The Christian Post _interviewed_ 
(http://www.christianpost.com/news/denver-pastor-starts-doubters-club-engage-skeptics-the-gospel-in
terview-166427/)  Preston  Ulmer who started an unconventional group called 
"The Doubter's Club" in  Denver-area coffee shops to engage skeptics and 
atheists with the Gospel. CP  reached out to him for comments on this survey's 
findings, asking him what  drives distaste for churches, particularly among 
young people. 
"Millennials pride themselves on two big ideas: making social impact and  
genuine relationships," Ulmer said. He added, "and by genuine I literally 
mean  no facade whatsoever." 
"I believe the reason they are leaving the church is because both of these  
issues are not at the forefront of most American churches." 
Ulmer further noted that the lack of community in many churches has only 
fed  the individualism millennials are known for and that's why they enjoy 
conversing  about spirituality. 
"At first, things are talked about with a sense of certainty. After  
challenges, friendships with believers, and genuine relationships, they change  
their individual belief to line up with the truth. That is what I've seen,  
anyway." 
Such would explain the findings that many are interested in church 
activities  related to community connectedness. 
The popular _Alpha Course_ (http://www.alpha.org/) , which was  hatched out 
of Holy Trinity-Brompton Anglican Church in London, and is sometimes  
described as "evangelism gone dialogue," is a ten-week Christianity 101 course  
built around a series of talks introducing curious people to the basics of 
the  Gospel and is often conducted inside and outside the  church.




 
CP asked John Wentz, ministry director and member of the Lead Team at 
_Alpha USA_ (http://alphausa.org/) , what drives distaste for the church  such 
that so many (evidenced by the LifeWay survey) unchurched would not  consider 
going. And what makes the Alpha approach different from traditional  church 
settings? 
"Alpha focuses on hospitality, on creating a safe place to explore faith, 
ask  questions and have discussions," Wentz said in an email to CP, 
emphasizing that  the premise is "no question is off limits, and no point of 
view is 
out of  line." 
"We want to encourage those attending Alpha to feel comfortable to ask  
questions and to have conversations that they may feel they can't have in other 
 places," Wentz continued. 
"We know that this doesn't take place in one conversation or even two. 
Having  a real relationship where we can talk about the most important things 
in 
life  takes time," he said. 
A Conversation About Faith  
Such an intentionally conversational approach to faith dovetails with 
perhaps  the most interesting result the LifeWay study uncovered: Unchurched 
Americans  are not put off by their Christian friends talking to them about 
matters of  faith. 
Close to half (47 percent) of respondents said that they discuss religion  
freely if the topic comes up. And about a third (31 percent) say they listen 
 without responding, while 11 percent change the subject. 
"Unchurched Americans aren't hostile to faith," says LifeWay Executive  
Director Scott McConnell in a statement, "they just don't think church is for  
them." 
But Christians should be prepared to change their evangelism approach as 
many  unchurched Americans say they never (43 percent) or are not sure of the 
last  time the question came to mind (20 percent) of "If I were to die 
today, do I  know for sure that I would go to heaven?" 
McConnell observes, "If the only benefit of being a Christian is that you 
get  to go to heaven, most unchurched people don't care. It can't be the only 
way of  talking about faith." 
The LifeWay Research/Billy Graham Center for Evangelism at Wheaton College  
survey was conducted May 23 to June 1, 2016, with a sample of  2,000 
surveys with a +/- 2.7 percent margin of  error

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