Surprising Insights: More on Unchurched-Reaching Pastors

OK, so I’ve been away a long time.  Blogging is a bit like that.  Let me continue my review of Rainer’s research findings.  Chapter Eight is entitled ‘What makes these Leaders Tick?’  What struck me most about this chapter was the clear emphasis on evangelism and theology.  

Rainer described four key motivational factors in these effective pastors:

1. a theology of lostness - they are personally and deeply convinced that people without Christ are lost and feel it emotionally too. 
2. passion and enthusiasm - especially for personally modelling evangelism
3. accountability in personal evangelism
4. excellence in all things - as Rainer observes elsewhere, excellence is intrinsically attractive

The chapter also lists 15 other lessons and features, well worth pondering, but I’m still getting over the emphasis on the need to model evangelism personally.  I’ve committed to that over several years, but I guess the question I’m asking now is if I’m doing enough.  Hm.  Any comments? 

Surprising Insights: Profile of Unchurched-Reaching Pastors

Apologies for the long-ish silence!

Chapter Seven takes us in to Part Two of the book.  Having surveyed the recently unchurched and heard the overwhelming importance of the role of the pastor/ minister/ leader, Rainer undertook a second round of interviews.  He surveyed 101 pastors of churches who are reaching the unchurched.  

Those surveyed came from churches across a range of denominations (but no significant percentage (if any) were Episcopalians/ Anglicans), age groups, ethnic backgrounds, social settings, and church ages (ie. local churches from less than 10 to more than 100 years old).  

A number of findings are summarised in this chapter:

1. Interview results from the 101 pastors have a statistically highly consistent degree of correlation with the results of the main survey of recently unchurched. 
2. Their average tenure was 11.8 years, compared to just 3.8 for all pastors.
3. 87% were seminary trained (47% had masters/ seminary training, 40% had doctorates).
4. An unquantifiable passion for reaching the lost and unchurched world was evident through the interviews.
5. Leaders are readers - the top book cited was Rick Warren’s ‘The Purpose Driven Life’ followed by Oswald Chambers’ ‘My Utmost for His Highest’ and J. I. Packer’s ‘Knowing God’.
6. Preaching - biblical preaching - was an absolute priority.  
7. They tended to be theologically conservative: 99% affirmed that salvation is only through Christ, 98% held to the inerrancy (complete or limited) of the Bible.  
8. They desired to be better leaders: through reading books on leadership, undertaking further study, formalising a mentoring relationship with another leader, seeking to upgrade skills in new areas like finance or administration. 
9. Having an intentional plan to reach the unchurched, and executing on it, was critical. 
10. Personal holiness, integrity, leadership by example, a vibrant prayer life, personal Bible study, ability to institute change, ability to cast vision, Bible knowledge, personal evangelism and communication skills were, in order, the top ten personal characteristics as rated in relation to leading their local church.  

That’s quite a list!  And knowing something about how difficult it is for many local churches in Melbourne to find a pastor when they need a new one, this list makes me want to keep praying that the Lord of the harvest raises up more workers for His harvest field. 

If you’re in need of a pastor, I think this list suggests that you either look to a good theological college, or find the most godly and capable person you can to send to one.  It takes a while to cook them properly, so we’d best start sending them now!

If you’re a pastor already or wanting to be one, be encouraged!  Here are some ways forward from this study.  If you haven’t already, start working on your personal holiness; preach the Bible; find a godly leader to be a mentor; start reading; start praying and planning. 

Surprising Insights #7 - Doctrine Really Matters

This is the final chapter in Part One, which deals with results from the survey of 353 formally unchurched persons.  True to the title of the book, the counter-intuitive finding is that doctrine really matters to the unchurched.  

The highest scoring factor influencing choice of church was theological beliefs or doctrine.  Interestingly, this factor was slightly more important for the formerly unchurched (91%) than for the control group of transfer churched (89%).  

Four headings in the chapter caught my attention:

Looking for absolutes:  the qualitative comments from the survey indicated that the unchurched were looking for absolute values in a world filled with uncertainty and the proliferation of relativism.  They picked it up not just from the sermons, but also in publications where the church’s doctrinal position was clearly set out.

Sensing certitude: certitude is the conviction of belief, which was also attractive and convincing.  One remarked, ‘there are a lot of wishy-washy churches out there’, and another said of the pastor, ‘this guy really believes this stuff’.  

Pastor, doctrine and certitude: Pastors who were unafraid to deal with difficult doctrinal issues also stood out in the remarks.  Their clarity and conviction was refreshing, and carried across not just in the pulpit but across a range of contexts like a welcomers’ gathering and Bible study class. 

Speaking the truth in love: Above all the grace, warmth and love communicated by not just the pastor, but the entire congregation as they held on their doctrinal clarity, was attractive and convincing.  

Surprising Insights #6 - Closing the Back Door

Well, that’s what I would have titled Chapter 5, instead of ‘Why They Returned and Stayed’.  Rainer opens the chapter with the burning issue a senior minister of a large and expanding church was wrestling with: low retention rates among newcomers.  The study of 353 formerly unchurched persons produced 6 key factors for retaining newcomers and encouraging return visits among guests:


1. Doctrine clarified

There is a desperately intriguing sentence in this section: ‘In a culture that prides itself on religious pluralism, we found that perhaps millions of Americans are on a quest for objective truth’.  I’m not so sure about the average Australian’s confidence that there is such a thing to be found - but I’d be very happy to be corrected!


2. High expectations

‘People have no desire to be a part of something that makes no difference, that expects little.  And, frankly, many churches have dumbed down church membership to the point that is has no meaning at all.’  Rainer combines results from an earlier survey of 2000 churches and concludes emphatically that churches with high and clear expectations of members to commit to living and ministering in a way consistent with New Testament teachings are better at evangelism and retaining guests (as members).


3. An “entry point” class

By this Rainer means a class or session for new members or potential new members in which the culture and identity of the church, and the expectations of members, are communicated and clarified.  This is typically done by the senior minister.   Further there was a positive correlation between the rate of retention of new members, and the requirement of attending such a class.  The more ‘optional’ the classes were, the lower the rate of retention.  

4. Small groups or Sunday School 

Forming meaningful relationships is the critical factor in retaining new members.  And involvement in a small group or a ministry area are the two most effective contexts in which those relationships form.  The study found an overwhelming correlation between membership of a small group or a Sunday School class and forming a long-lasting commitment to the local church.  

For some new converts, a Sunday School option was preferable, as it kept church involvement to a Sunday and decreased potential resentment from non-church going family members - a factor that I’d not considered more seriously before.  

‘Busyness’ is a common catch-cry these days, but this observation is not dissimilar to the narrative argument in Tim Chester and Steve Timms, Total Church - relationships matter, and relationships and community-building take time and energy and a degree of prioritisation over other competing demands.


5. Clarity of purpose

More than 90% of laity in evangelistic churches can name 4 out of 5 of their church’s purpose statements.  The figure for non-evangelistic churches is 17.7%.  Full-stop!


6. Ministry involvement

When asked what kept them ‘active in church’, 62% of the study’s respondents mentioned some form of ministry involvement.  55% mentioned the Sunday School - what we would call the Bible study small group.  But it was ministry involvement that generated enthusiastic, ‘eyes lighting up’ responses.  

So in summary, the formerly unchurched want to be in a church that makes a difference, that has clear direction and vision.  And they want to be in small groups, and serve in ministry - and they want to do this in a church that sets a high bar on what it means to be a Christian and church member today.  

Surprising Insights #5: Impressed by First Impressions

I’ll never forget a story a colleague told me about going to church in a small Victorian country town where she and a friend were holidaying.  They found the local Anglican church on Sunday, and went in at service time.  The place was mainly empty, so they picked a pew and slid in.  The first person to talk to them was an elderly lady who came over and said grumpily, ‘You’re sitting in my spot’.  

This chapter discusses the study’s findings that first impressions matter.  Interestingly, most respondents were more affected by the impressions on their second visit, rather than their first.  But they had decided within a few minutes of their first visit as to whether they would come back or not.  Many put it down to being overwhelmed by everything first time around.  

Be that as it may, the point is that the formerly unchurched notice things about both people and facilities that influence their decision to return.  There wasn’t much about this in the chapter, but I rather suspect that the transfer churched are fussier about things like worship and music preference. 

The study showed that the top five first impressions had to do with:

1. Friendliness - 311
2. Nice facilities/ adequate space -161
3. Nursery/ preschool/ children’s ministry - 102
4. Organisation (instead of chaos) - 111
5. Greeters and welcome centres - 117

The numbers refer to the number of respondents (out of the study total of 353) who mentioned this factor as a positive towards their decision to return and eventually join the church.  

Rainer rightly discusses the impact of consumerism and the consumer mentality on churches.  Two or three generations ago church was where you went locally to serve others.  Now visitors ask what the church can do for them, or their children.  He acknowledges that it is difficult to draw the line between being seeker-friendly and driven by consumerism, but uses the example of one outstandingly evangelistically successful church as the paradigm: excellence is what matters.  ‘Mediocrity breeds indifference, but excellence attracts…’ says that church’s pastor.  So even if you’re starting a church in a dingy rented living room, with no children’s ministry, you should be encouraged to strive for excellence in the service and in quality of your friendly welcoming fellowship.  

Surprising Insights #4: Relationships that Click

This is a really interesting chapter.  Rainer cites a number of other studies which indicate that relationships are highly significant for people connecting to a church.  The received wisdom is that relationships matter, but in this chapter he outlines this particular study’s surprising findings.  The methodological nuances take a bit of careful thought to get through, but they’re worth it!  

Two significant differences between this study’s and other studies’ findings are identified.  1. The reasons the formerly unchurched chose a particular church are complex and cannot be simplified to one or two major issues.  2. Relationships is an important factor, but not the overwhelming reason as some other studies suggest.  

Five major conclusions are outlined:

1. Relationships Are Very Important
2. Rarely Do Relationships Alone Explain the Best Way to Reach the Unchurched
3. God Sometimes Works to Reach the Unchurched Without Using Any Relationships
4. Family Relationships Are the Most Important
5. The Wife is the Most Important Relationship in Reaching the Unchurched

The formerly unchurched were asked, ‘If a family member influenced you to come to church, which person was most influential?’  The highest score was 35% - ‘wives’.  The next highest was 18% - ‘children’ and then 16% for ‘other’.  Parents, siblings and parents-in-law returned 9, 5 and 2%.  Husbands didn’t even score. 

Rainer observes that women are, on anecdotal evidence, more likely to visit a church without any relational connection, whereas men are not likely to visit a church where they do not know anybody.  

The end result, in my opinion, is that women tend to be over-represented in churches.  The good news is that wives are such an important relationship for reaching unchurched husbands - one third of respondents!  So, how many churches do you know about with an intentional ministry to help wives reach their unconverted husbands?  St Alfred’s doesn’t have one… yet. 

Surprising Insights #3: Pastors and Preaching are Critical

Rainer gives two reasons why he was hesitant to publish this chapter.  

Firstly, earlier research on four thousand churches in the USA showed that a majority were abandoning the biblical model of pastoral ministry: that is, a commitment to Acts 6:4 and a model of leadership that allowed pastors to focus on ministry of the Word and prayer.  

Secondly, he feared that many readers would use this material to say that the reason their churches weren’t growing was inept pastoring - when in fact his research shows that ‘pastors are among the hardest working and yet least respected persons in America today’. 

But publish the chapter he did, because the ‘pastor and preaching’ factor was found to be so outstandingly critical to evangelistically effective churches.  97% of respondents answered ‘Yes’ to the question ‘Did the pastor and the preaching play a part in your coming to this church?‘  Asked a more open-ended question about factors that led to respondents choosing their church, ‘pastors or preaching’ were mentioned in 90% of cases, ‘doctrine’ in 88% and the next most mentioned factor was ‘friendliness’ at 49%.  

Around ‘pastors and preaching’ there were 8 statistically significant characteristics:

1. preaching that teaches the Bible - by which is meant expository or ‘line-by-line’ Bible teaching (as one respondent described it. 
2. preaching that applies to my life
3. authenticity of the pastor - down-to-earth, friendly, willing to admit mistakes, real, regular guy
4. pastor’s conviction - of the truth and the importance of it
5. personal contact by the pastor
6. pastor is a good communicator
7. pastor is a leader - especially with regard to the vision and purpose and direction of the church
8. pastor’s class - by which is meant an introductory class to the church, or a church membership class that is taken by the senior pastor. 

Each of these eight are described in more detail in this chapter, which ends with a word of encouragement for pastors - for it does seem that a ‘superman pastor’ is what is required!  Rainer notes that in a previous study he discovered that a majority of pastors spend around two hours a week on sermon preparation.  That staggered me, I need most of the week whenever I’m preaching!  So he concludes that making a few decisions about the relative importance of preaching and teaching, the ministry of Word and prayer, can yield great fruit in a pastor’s ministry.  That’s not a bad conclusion, nor a bad word of encouragement.  

The Attentive Life

The Attentive Life: Discerning God’s Presence in All Things, Leighton Ford, IVP Books, 2008. 

Ok, I have to admit that I’m only reading this book because I have to.  I’m part of a peer mentoring community that meets in a retreat setting for five days annually.  Each year we read a book together on the spiritual life, and our reading reflections become an important part of our time together.  

Leighton Ford is Billy Graham’s brother-in-law, and at the time of my writing both men are advanced in years, but still alive and relatively well.  Leighton was part of the Billy Graham evangelistic team that proclaimed the Gospel to literally millions of people across the globe over the latter half of the last century.    

As an evangelist, Leighton’s life has been about being busy “making friends for God”, as he puts it.  It was, by any account, a hectic frantic frenetic existence flying from city to city to preach, teach and speak as an itinerant evangelist.  In the latter part of his life, the commitment to evangelism remains, but he also wants to attend to his own heart and to deepen his own friendship with God; he uses the language of paying attention to God’s presence in all things.  This is the prime concern of this book. 

It’s not the usual kind of book that I read, or that the people in my mentoring group might read either.  But  it so happens that Leighton Ford is effectively the grandfather of our group, which has been ‘grandfathered’ out of an original mentoring group assembled by him some decades ago.  So I guess we owe it to him! 

The chapters are structured around prayers of the hours, or the Divine Hours, a cycle of eight prayer times through the day (and night!) in the Rule of St. Benedict.  This medieval monastic order or rule of life, has experienced something of a postmodern renaissance as Christians seek release and a sense of order within the chaotic activity of the pressure and stress-packed technological world.  

In each chapter Ford offers his reflection on the particular prayer in the cycle, provides an exemplar of ‘one who paid attention’ to God, and notes a helpful practice or two for paying attention ourselves.  It is written in an easy first-person narrative style.  Sort of like a fire-side chat with your favourite grandfather, only it is mainly a monologue, and there are bits where you have to work hard to stop, reflect, pay attention to what is really being said... pay attention to what God might be saying. 

I don’t think there can really ever be any replacement to reflecting on the Bible and what God is saying and teaching us through the Scriptures, but I’ve really valued how this book and these kinds of books force me to think and experience things outside the square of my default spirituality.  Like great poetry, of which Leighton is fond, moments in this book catch you unawares, and you are better for it. 

Surprising Insights - 9 Myths about the Unchurched - Pt II

Myth #6 The pastor must be a dynamic and charismatic leader for the church to reach the unchurched

Only 4% of the churches in the USA meet the definition of evangelistically-effective laid out for this study.  Of these, most of the pastors are not the mega-star ones whose names evangelical Christians would be familiar with.  Pastoral leadership was such an important factor that the entire latter half of the book deals with this.   

Myth #6 We must be careful in our teaching and preaching so that we do not communicate deep and complex biblical truths that will confuse the unchurched

91% of respondents indicated that doctrine was important in their decision to choose the church to join.  Interestingly, this was a slightly higher percentage than the 89% of transfer churched respondents (ie. Christians who transferred their membership).  My observation is that the world is not a simple place, and people - churched or unchurched - are looking for robust and coherent, not simplistic, answers.  

Myth #7 The Sunday School and other small groups are ineffective in attracting the unchurched

By Sunday School the study means the practice of holding Bible study classes on Sunday afternoons, after the morning service.  These often take the place of our mid-week Bible study small groups.  The Sunday School is for all age groups, highly organised, and syllabus driven.  They are, in effect, a means of providing Bible teaching in an organised age-appropriate setting.  An Australian equivalent might be the parachurch Bible Study Fellowship or a Bible overview course run in a local church.  

Myth #8 The most important evangelistic relationships take place in the marketplace

By marketplace the study means the place we spend most of our working time: work, university, school, neighborhoods, shops.  We might spend most of our time in the ‘marketplace’ but it ranks poorly as a fertile place for evangelism. 

When asked who was most significant in influencing their decision to come to church, the formerly unchurched ranked family members highest at 43%.  Next, in order, came ‘No one’ (25%), ‘Other’ (17%), ‘Coworker’ (8%), ‘Neighbour’ (6%) then ‘Merchant’ (2%).  Familial relationships were far and away the most significant.  

Of family relationships, wives were far and away the most significant (35%), children next (18%) then parents (9%) and siblings (5%).  Parents-in-law (2%) and other relations (9%) complete the list.  Husbands barely ranked.  

What this tells us is that marketplace evangelism is extremely difficult for a variety of reasons that we might speculate about.  It also indicates that churches would do well to develop an intentional strategy of equipping wives to evangelise their husbands.  

Myth #9 The unchurched are concerned only about their own needs

The study showed that the motivation of the unchurched for seeking out church or religious influence is complex and varied.  One-in-three respondents indicated that the desire to have religious influence in their children’s lives was the main factor for them.  Many also indicated altruistic motives, the desire to be challenged to make a difference.  

Some preaching tends to denigrate and condemn ‘the world’ and the unchurched, when in reality there is sin both inside and outside the church.  I’ve found that people appreciate it when I point this out in my preaching and teaching, and when I affirm what I can in the world while passionately defending my conviction that Jesus is the pinnacle of all wisdom and altruism and service.

Great MythBusting!  I’m looking forward to the rest of the book!  

Surprising Insights - 9 Myths about the Unchurched - Pt I

Here's a summary of the next chapter in the book. 

Myth #1 Most unchurched think and act like Anglo, middle-class suburbanites with no church background

The study shows that the unchurched are a diverse group, and that people come into church for a variety of reasons from a variety of backgrounds.  We must not fall into the trap of stereotyping the unchurched.  

Myth #2 The unchurched are turned off by denominational names in the church name

Church names rank incredibly low on the range of factors influencing the unchurched to join.  81% of respondents say it did not influence their decision.  8% were uncertain and of the 11% who said the name influence their decision, two-thirds said that the denominational name was a positive influence.  This is probably less true in Australia, but worth investigating further.  If my local church is any guide, there is plenty of local community goodwill and lots of people who have a basically positive view of St Alfred's Anglican Church.  

Myth #3 The unchurched never attend church

On average the unchurched attend around one or two times a year.  The book highlights Christmas and Easter, but we might add baptisms, weddings and funerals as well.  Rainer says, 'Visitors do come - are we ready for them?'  In my experience, this is desperately correct!  Unchurched visitors come to a church for a variety of reasons, not least because someone they trust invites them.

Myth #4 The unchurched cannot be reached by direct personal evangelism

There is plenty of testimony from the interviewees of the impact of a personal visit from the pastor or a visiting team from the church, in which direct evangelism occurred, leading to conversion and their joining the church.  In the majority of stories recorded the visit happened within a month of their visit to the church (and presumably filling out a visitor’s card).  Of course we only hear the success stories - there would have been many failures.  By one calculation only 1 in 5000 who heard Whitfield and Wesley preach were converted.  It is my observation that our contemporary fear of rejection and public shame is the main thing that keeps us from proclaiming the Good News in season and out of season.    

  

Surprising Insights from the Unchurched - Introduction

I'm going to offer potted summaries of each chapter as I go along. The point is to present the book as it is, and save my comments and reflections for the end. 


In the Introduction Rainer outlines the parameters of the  research project, which I began to describe in the post below, and provides a high-level summary of findings.  This is the key chart: What factors led you to choose this church?  The percentages are of the total pool of 353 formerly unchurched who were surveyed. 

Pastor/ preaching	___________________________________90%
Doctrines	_________________________________88%
Friendliness of members	________________49%
Other issues	_____________42%
Someone from the church witnessed to me	____________41%
Family member attends	__________38%
Sense God’s presence/ atmosphere of the church	_________37%

Rainer says, "This simple graph alone could speak volumes to a strategy for reaching the unchurched". 


In fact, the study revealed that pastors, preaching and doctrine were such a significant factor that the project went on to interview 101 pastors of evangelistically effective churches.  The entire latter half of the book is devoted to describing these results.  A group of the same number of pastors from 'comparison churches', that is churches that did not meet the criteria of 'evangelistically effective', were also interviewed.  


In a similar vein, a comparison group of 'transfer churched' were also interviewed. These were people who had joined a church, not because of conversion, but from another church.  

I like the methodological premise of the study. It seems to me that to better understand the reasons why people have actually chosen to join is a very fruitful exercise.  And the comparisons with 'transfer churched' and pastors of 'comparison churches' should be extremely interesting.  


At least one person has asked me where they can get this book. If you click on the title above, it will take you to www.bookdepository.co.uk which I'm a fan of: free delivery worldwide, very competitive prices, often the same or better than our local retailers.  

Surprising Insights from the Unchurched

I'm currently at home afflicted by a viral bug of some sort, and it's been a good time to catch up with reading, so thanks Dazzur for the loan of this excellent, and for me, un-put-down-able book.

Thom Rainer was founding Dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and church Growth at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in the US.  He's written interesting and important books on the theme of evangelism & mission - and especially on reaching the unchurched.

This is a simple, but far from simplistic book.  It arises from a series of 353 exhaustive interviews with the recently and formerly unchurched: that is, people who have recently joined the church. Rather than asking what the currently  unchurched think, Rainer samples the opinions of those who have made a recent and successful transition into church membership.

This small methodological tweak yields big results.  So instead of reading another book that gets angry at the church for not reaching group X, Y or Z, I'm reading a book that's about what's happened so that an unchurched person has now become a Christian and committed church member.

I'm already more than half way through the book, but will post reflections as I get to them.  If you'd like to read with me, please get a copy and do so.  I'd love to hear what you think and how we can implement some of these insights in our life together at St Alfs.  (Actually, we've already started to do so through our Mission Action Plan process, but that's another story...)