For Those Without a Church Home, Excitement Takes a Back Seat to Simplicity & Authenticity
“80 percent of unchurched adults would strongly prefer ‘calm’ church experiences over ‘exhilarating.’ Likewise, 69 percent of unchurched adults prefer a ‘reflective’ experience over ‘energetic.’” - Barna Research
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For many churches the job description of pastor is for an entertainment coordinator and activities director when we should be looking for someone with character to point us to Christ. Ironically, according to Barna it looks like the unchurched are looking for the right thing. Let us pray for a new generation of pastors who gives that to them regardless of how small a group they minister to or of how unknown they are.
Really this survey shouldn't surprise us. Those that are looking are looking for something different than the world. I do not understand why the church keeps feeling they need to look like the world.
Surveys are always easy to misinterpret, but I wonder if the “seeker” movement wasn’t actually more aimed at churched people, to pull them away from other churches. The survey focuses on “unchurched” people looking for a church. So maybe all the entertainment stuff was really driven by what bored churched people wanted, not what unchurched people wanted?
Or there has been a shift among the unchurched. What did people say on this survey a decade and two decades ago, if it even existed then?
But I’d have to dig some more to find out what this Barna survey means by “unchurched.” It might only mean “currently looking around,” which would void my theory.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
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