Lost and Found

The Younger Unchurched and the Churches that Reach Them

Ed Stetzer, Richie Stanley, Jason Hayes

• Publisher: B&H Books
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN: 9780805448788
• eBook ISBN: 9780805449754
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Ministry

Who are the young unchurched, and how can they be reached with the good news of Jesus Christ?

In a poll result highlighted by CNN Headline News and USA Today, nearly half of nonchurchgoers between the ages of twenty and twenty-nine agreed with the statement, "Christians get on my nerves." Now, researchers behind the larger study present Lost and Found, a blend of dynamic hard data and modern day parable that tells the real story of an unchurched generation that is actually quite spiritual and yet circumspect, open to Jesus but not the church.

As such, Lost and Found is written to the church, using often-surprising results from the copious research here to strike another nerve and break some long established assumptions about how to effectively engage the lost. Leading missiologist Ed Stetzer and his associates first offer a detailed investigation of the four younger unchurched types. With a better understanding of their unique experiences, they next clarify the importance each type places on community, depth of content, social responsibility, and making cross-generational connections in relation to spiritual matters.

Most valuably, Lost and Found finds the churches that have learned to reach unchurched young adults by paying close attention to those key markers vetted by the research. Their exciting stories will make it clear how your church can bring searching souls from this culture to authentic faith in Christ.

Those who are lost can indeed be found. Come take a closer look.

– PART 1 –

Polling

TO STUDY THE YOUNGER UNCHURCHED IT IS IMPORTANT to talk to the younger unchurched. There are many opinions about the unchurched out there—much of it based on gut, some on conjecture, and some on anecdotal evidence. To understand people, we think you have to ask people. So, we polled them—more than a thousand of them.

We wanted to do something more than just ask young adults who are unchurched. We wanted to know how their views differed from the older unchurched. We believed it might help us understand something important: are their views more negative or more positive than their older counterparts? If so, that might help us understand what was happening—and we found some interesting things.

The polling section is broken into three parts:

Types of the Younger Unchurched

We began by describing some types of the younger unchurched. To be fair, every unchurched person is an individual. However, we have observed that not everyone is equally hostile, informed, or open. Thus, we described four types and created a narrative that continues throughout the book to help tell the story of these younger unchurched types.

What They Believe

The second section is straight polling. We developed a series of questions to survey these younger unchurched people and then asked them questions about spirituality, church, God, religion, and faith. The results were both fascinating and sobering.

What Does the Future Hold?

The third part of this section compares the younger unchurched to the older. The reason is simple. Amid much talk about this generation being so unchurched and lost, we need to ask, “Are they any different from the generation that proceeded them?” And, you might be surprised by the answer. We concluded that basic beliefs about God and their perceptions of the church would be worth discussing more in depth.

Types of the Younger Unchurched

MOST PEOPLE DON'T LIKE IT WHEN THEY ARE NARROWLY DEFINED by the opinions and expectations of others. For example, it can be a mistake to put young people into one grouping and say, “All young adults think this or that.” In our study we found remarkable differences by race, ethnicity, and background, among other things. Based on careful research, we found clear patterns that differentiated the younger unchurched, and we thought it would be helpful to describe those patterns.

So really, Younger Unchurched Al doesn't exist. As we talked to many younger unchurched adults, we found that they fit into several categories, but even these are imperfect. The younger unchurched expressed a desire for churches to care about them as individuals, so it is with great caution that we describe four general types of younger unchurched in this chapter. The intention is to learn about differences among the types rather than create stereotypes.

There certainly is some overlap to these categories, but the four general types of younger unchurched we described are:

1. Always unchurched (never been involved)
2. De-churched (having attended as a child)
3. Friendly unchurched (not particularly angry at the church)
4. Hostile unchurched (angry at the church or have had some negative experiences with the church)

Always Unchurched

The always unchurched are those younger unchurched who either reported that they never attended church as a child or attended only on special occasions.

Meet Ally, a representative of the always unchurched. She is twenty-five, has never married, and has a college degree. Ally grew up near a large city and has never developed an identity with any denomination, faith group, or spiritual support system. Ally represents about 22 percent of the younger unchurched in our sample.

Compared to other unchurched young people, she has the smallest, yet widest view of God and Jesus. Yes, God or a supreme being probably exists, and this does somewhat impact her lifestyle. But the God described in the Bible is not unique from the gods depicted by other world religions such as Islam or Hinduism. Ally does not believe that Jesus died and actually came back to life, yet she is open-minded enough to admit that having faith in Jesus might make a positive difference in a person's life.

Christianity is so prevalent that it does seem to be a relevant and viable religion for today. She believes Christian churches are probably even helpful to society as a whole. But Ally is convinced that Christianity should focus more on loving God and people and less on organizations.

Ally has no church experience, but she still believes many churchgoers are hypocritical in judging other people. Her lifestyle choices would probably be judged harshly by the church, so why would she desire to subject herself to that? Ally simply has no need for church in her busy life. She can relate well to God and learn about being a Christian without attending church.

Ally differs from her age group peers in several of her views about the church and Christians. Ally is slightly less spiritual and religious than other unchurched twentysomethings, but she is somewhat curious about God, or a supreme being. Some of her friends are spiritual, and she disagrees with the notion that church attendees are more spiritual than she and her friends.

Ally seldom wonders about her eternal destiny because she is not at all certain that a person's spirit continues to exist after death. Heaven just might exist, but Ally is not really concerned about hell. Since her views of the afterlife are weak, they have relatively little impact on how she lives.

Ally's lack of church experience will make it difficult for existing churches or Christian acquaintances to reach her. As is true of all the younger unchurched, Ally would listen to believers who were willing to share with her about their Christian beliefs.

Like her peers, Ally has a good friend who is a Christian and knows several others. But they get on her nerves sometimes. Last year when Ally's friend Ann became a Christian, their relationship suffered.

Ally has indicated that she will not be attracted by a particular music style at church. She is ambivalent about churches caring for her as a person and sharing truth with her in relevant ways. She just has no comfort level at church. The potential benefits of church involvement do not outweigh the perceived negatives for her.

The De-Churched

We were surprised at how many of the younger unchurched indicated they had attended church as a child. For some, this childhood attendance seemed to be a negative experience. We looked at those who attended as a child and now thought the church was full of hypocrites. Our assumption was that many of these people had a bad experience in church—and therefore, they were de-churched.

To be fair, this category is probably overestimated—most people tend to report that they were involved in activities that society affirms (i.e., if you ask them if they voted in the last election, more say “yes” than actually voted). However, this group displays some characteristics that are interesting and helpful to know. An increasing number of studies show that people estimate their church attendance at twice the amount they actually attend—and this may be even higher if they are reflecting back on childhood.

Because the de-churched are the largest subgroup (62 percent of respondents), their responses are similar to the overall survey totals. Their interest and receptivity are generally higher than the other types of younger unchurched.

Dean is similar to his unchurched peers, and like many of them, he attended church weekly as a child. Even though he no longer attends, Dean's upbringing has influenced his understanding of God, Christianity, and church toward more traditional views.

Dean's agreement with God's existence and uniqueness is strong, but he still leaves open the possibility that supreme beings of other world religions may be similar to the biblical God. He was taught and accepts the bodily resurrection of Jesus as fact, and he is convinced that believing in Jesus makes a positive difference in one's life.

Dean's receptivity to Bible studies or conversations about Christianity is above average. The church still has work to do overcoming the negative feelings that Dean holds about hypocrites in the church. He also has personal lifestyle issues that make him wonder if he would be accepted at church.

Dean wonders occasionally about his eternal destiny, much more than Ally, his friend who never went to church as a child. He has little doubt that a person's spirit continues postmortem, and he is more comfortable with the notion of heaven than hell. His lifestyle is impacted to some degree by his beliefs about the afterlife.

Dean knows many Christians and is open to spiritual discussion with them. He finds that some Christians do get on his nerves. His friendships are not limited to those who are spiritual, and church attendance does not convince Dean that a person is more spiritual than he is. After all, he indicates weekly that church attendance is not required for a person to have a good relationship with God and an understanding of Christianity.

Dean looks and thinks like the typical twentysomething not in church. It will not be easier to reach Dean than it will be to reach Ally, even though he is formerly churched, but it will help some. The big question is—where and how would Dean fit in if he came back?

Friendly and Hostile Unchurched

Friend or foe? The last two types of younger unchurched respondents are best viewed in contrast. ...

Table of contents

• Introduction
• Part 1: Polling
• Part 2: Listening
• Part 3: Reaching
• Conclusion
• Notes