I was just reading some of George Barna's research articles and I ran across this one that he posted on March 20, 2006. Wow! 76 million adults never attend church! That's staggering to say the least.
We have said over and over again that Victory Church is a church for the unchurched, but with 76 million adults never attending church, I question how good are we doing in reaching the unchurched?
What are the religious profiles of the unchurched?
- 62% consider themselves Christians.
- 4% say they are Jewish.
- 4% are associated with an Easter religion.
- 24% claim to be atheist.
- Denominationally, the largest share of unchurched adults are made up of lapsed Catholics: almost 3 out of every 10 unchurched people (29%) associate with Catholicism; 1 out of every 5 (18%) say they are Baptist.
Here are some more interesting facts about the unchurched:
- 62% pray to God.
- 20% read the Bible.
- 5% participate in a small group.
This just reinforces the fact that people are spiritually hungry for God, but they are tired of all the "religious stuff!"
What do the unchurched believe?
- 50% agree that the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches.
- 66% agree that their religious faith is very important in their life today.
- 64% contend that Satan is not a living being but is just a symbol of evil.
- 62% believe that a good person can earn eternal salvation.
- 51% believe that Jesus Christ sinned while He lived on earth.
- 61% say their single, most important purpose in life is to love God with all their heart, mind, strength and soul.
- 55% argue that they are totally committed to having a deeper relationship with God and will do whatever it takes to get and maintain that relationship.
- 66% say they are completely committed to making the world, and other people’s lives, better.
Interestingly, nearly one-quarter of the unchurched (23%) say that a person’s faith in God is meant to be developed mainly through involvement in a local church. To read the complete article by George Barna click here.
Any thoughts or comments? How can we as a church better reach the unchurched? What are some of the barriers or obstacles that you have noticed (at Victory or any other church) that would cause 1 of the 76 million not to attend (y)our church?
Just click on the "comments" link below to leave your thoughts.
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