How to Reach Folks Not Normally in Church

Reaching the Nones

Lillian Daniel

SESSION 1

We begin with the glaring need to reclaim Christianity from the stereotypes. We need to reclaim the centrality and essential nature of religious practice to a full human existence. We have allowed the extremes to speak for us, either the neo-atheists or the rampant evangelicals. To be a follower of Jesus is to center one’s life on the presence and ministry of Christ within the world, believing it to be a means by which to find the purpose and intent of being human.

The second piece we have to consider is that people hunger for deeper, more meaningful conversations about faith and religious practice and praxis. People have a passion. There is something at the core of their lives. The thing of it is, is that most folks have no idea what that center is. The thought of seeking it within a religious context frightens them because of the stereotypes.

So, the key work is to create a religious experience that is whole lot more about faith than it is religion. That means becoming more than “the bland leading the blind.” It also means moving far away from being the gathering of the moralistic. We need to deeply consider what it means to be a “none”—No Way (no church, not now, not ever); No Longer  (drifted after a time); Never Haves (no experience); and the Not Yets (amenable). Up to now, most mainliners focused on the no ways and the no longers, trying to justify our existence to people who could care less. The never haves and not yets have no comprehension of anything religious. That should immediately change our focus from justification to introduction.

Our main evangelistic message has been, “We aren’t like that!”—i.e., we are not the angry, judgmental brand of Christianity that holds the public pulpit. The Not Yets and Never Haves don’t know enough to know what it is we aren’t like. They are seeking a spiritual center that makes sense of their existence. They are asking existential questions, but are not interested in joining an argument long gone. We need to step back and think back to more core issues of faith. 

SESSION 2

One of the major issues is the issue of welcome. A church may outwardly practice all the friendliness, warmth, and personableness, but subliminally communicate that someone different will not be welcome. This issue is particularly prevalent in a defensive, dwindling community. 

To overcome this subliminal message, we need to practice the Three R’s of presence—

reasonableness

rigor

real

In preaching, assume an inquisitiveness in the congregation. Assume an interest in what scripture actually says. Assume a need to speak, though, in terms that make sense—intelligibility. We cannot practice a style of proclamation that communicates to folks that they are stupid—something no one intentionally does, but still communicates by falling into jargon, etc. Reasonableness takes intelligibility and then adds the layer of questions that every believer has—e.g., do you really believe in the virgin birth? Take people on their own terms.

Rigor is something dwindling congregations avoid. We do not want to make too many demands for fear of losing people. This is the culture of membership—folks join, but it is entirely self-focused—when it gets hard, they leave. We need to adopt the culture of discipleship. It is all right to claim the importance and centrality of faith practice. People value that which takes effort. Why avoid that? Faith is anything but self-focused. Indeed, it is meant to destroy self-focus. Reflect on your church’s worship practice—who is the focus upon? Is it simply feeding the needs of the selves gathered, or is it focused on God? It is all right to invite people to make effort to engage in the practice of faith.

Finally, keep it real. Do not avoid the reality of human existence or human frailty. Tackle the problems actually dealt with by the members of the congregation. Yes, there is a balance—you can go too far, but we cannot descend to the fake real—the affable pastor with the “problem”—minimizing the actuality of human existence. This move to reality is essential if you are really going to meet people where they live. To practice fake reality continues the myth of the pastor who cannot deal with real life. So, instead convey the reality that you have lived as a full human being and understand everyone else does, too. The balance is communicate reality coupled with the ability to handle reality. A dynamic to seek is the uncomfortable moment that then brings you back—I have a problem with food, but I found a compassionate ear. 

The key is to use the Three R’s to develop a direct, clear communication—say what you mean, dammit! That is actually what the people want.

SESSION 3

If we are going to reach the Not Yets and Never Haves, we have to assume biblical illiteracy. This understanding runs counter to prevalent mainline practices such as using the lectionary. Honestly, such practices leaves these two focus groups outside the conversation. Understanding who is present, we need to introduce a text, placing it in its biblical context. We also need to travel around the scriptures to unveil the complexity and scope of scripture. We may also want to focus on entire books, traveling through an entire book to introduce its theology. 

Worship is now catechesis—the encyclopedic education of the seeker on faith. Challenge someone to think. Invite them to explore what is being presented. In other words, become a seeker alongside the seekers. Never fall into a place of assuming you already know what a text says, rather allow yourself to be surprised by a text, then invite someone else to share the surprise. 

Furthermore, as we present scripture in worship, be intentional about inviting the four groups of Nones to participate—

…some of you may have heard this story before, and some of you may not…

…this text may be difficult to hear, while for others, you may not yet know how    difficult it is…

Realize that everyone in the pews assumes they are the only person feeling that way. This approach helps folks realize they are in community. 

Next, do not lose your focus by re-emphasizing it with lists of reiterations, variances, etc. The point gets lost in the web of analogies. Direct and clear—that’s the place to stand. To do otherwise, we actually reveal a lack of faith—we do not trust the ability of the people present to understand, nor do we trust the Holy Spirit to be the interpreter. 

Next, the task is not to reach everybody on the room, but to speak the Gospel. This may mean using old tools like testimonials—confess your own experience with a text. We have problems with the Bible—everyone does—so speak them. We have profound awakenings—so speak them. If we are going to lead others on their journey, we need to be open that we are fellow travelers. 

Do not be afraid to speak of eternity. It is a surprising truth that nearly everyone present for worship is probably dealing with eternity on some level. They are probably worrying over double-predestination, exclusion, judgment, etc., even if they do not have the language to express it. This point raises again the desperate need to be out in the world, really listening to what people are thinking about, worrying about, or consumed with. Moreover, we have to equip the laity to have these existential, theological conversations because they are more than likely going to be the people actually encountering the questions. Evangelism is a community effort. 

Do not be afraid of existing in a critical culture. We are way too eager to critique what we see and hear. We are far too fast in finding the flaw in someone else. Everyone deals with the fear of being shot to pieces for taking a risk of challenging culture as it is. Therefore, we need to create a space that is safe, secure, and sustaining so folks can be empowered to take the Gospel into the world. Do not be afraid to express the joy of life in opposition to the overwhelming angst of culture as it is. It could well be a new commitment to proclaiming the good life—a life that is meaningful and full.

Something to consider is that there is a wide diversity in learning—verbal, visceral, and visual. Mainline Protestantism has forever emphasized the verbal. Catholic/Orthodoxy is primarily visual. The rising demand from the Millennials is to be visceral. The best approach is probably one that blends these elements, providing bridges to the intellectual, emotional, and experiential. If you are more predisposed to one of these poles, find others who are close to the ones you lack to flesh out the moment. 

As all of this change begins to come, keep in mind the folks who are the current established church. They will push back against anything that seems to break their status quo existence. They will question the newness of the arrival of folks completely unlike them. They will push back, ironically, against the deepening welcome that pushes us to actually embody the welcome we profess.

SESSION 4

There is and always will be a wide variance of response and reaction to religion. We seem continually to swing back and forth between the “turn or burn” viewpoint and the “anything goes” viewpoint.  There is a skepticism about religion based on the extreme judgmental moralism that claims the public square. We need to answer it as strongly as the critique comes. Perhaps the means by which such a response comes is by recapturing the prophetic. Note that someone like Amos has no compunction about naming false religion for what it is. BUT—Amos also knows enough to reorient the focus upon the true image of God that comes from God. In this way, we can name many of the leading critics of religion as being as bigoted as they are (a revelation of the extremism of the left). To be willing to answer the critics is a sure means by which to reveal how valuable faith is (you would never argue for something you don’t believe). 

We need to also take seriously how schism turns people away from faith. Christianity’s greatest hypocrisy is its proclamation of love, grace, and welcome while continually battling one another and declaring one another in or out. Perhaps something we can take from SBNR (spiritual but not religious) is the ability to speak between faith communities. The thing we may need to do much, much better is to listen to the different variations of American Christianity, trying to understand how folks landed there. In so doing, we discover what people seek as sources of meaning, purpose, and worth for life.