Many churches bemoan the absence of newcomers but fail to consider how their own failure to meaningfully engage others contributes to this reality. Phil Maynard outlines 10 reasons churches aren’t attracting the many people in their communities who need Jesus.
Why are our churches empty and our communities full of people who need Jesus?
There are, of course, a wide variety of responses to this question. Part of the answer is that our culture is decidedly less Christian or at least less interested in the church or other forms of organized religion. While most people believe in God and consider themselves to be spiritual, fewer and fewer are religious or involved in any form of faith community. These people are often referred to as the “Nones.” Then, there are the “Dones” who were once active in local congregations but no longer find value in participation.
At the same time, with some shining exceptions, the church seems to have “circled the wagons” and adopted an attitude of “if we build it, they will come.” But they are not coming. And they haven’t been coming for decades.
I often sit with church leaders and listen while they bemoan the reality that they haven’t seen a new person in months. At the same time, they talk about what a “friendly” church they are and how they don’t understand why more people aren’t coming. By the way, I have never met a congregation that admitted they were not friendly!
When I ask a group of leaders how they got involved in the congregation, almost all of them (80-90 percent) share how someone they were in relationship with invited them to come to church or a church event. When this same group is asked who they are building a relationship with outside the church and looking for opportunities to invite them to come, the room gets very quiet indeed. They all know from their own experience what it takes to get people to church, but they are not doing it. And then they wonder why people are not coming.
There are a variety of reasons for this.
- We haven’t taught that introducing people to Jesus is part of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.
- We have emphasized the “personal relationship with Jesus” while de-emphasizing the importance of being in relationship with other believers and those outside the church.
- We celebrate what people do inside the church to support church activities rather than celebrating relationships being established and service in neighborhoods and communities.
- We haven’t helped people learn how to have conversations with people they don’t know.
- Most churched people tend to know and engage primarily other churched people.
- We haven’t taught people how to share their stories.
- We haven’t taught people how to share the difference Jesus has made in their lives.
- We haven’t helped people understand the times in people’s lives when they are most open to hearing the Gospel message and finding the support of a faith community.
- We haven’t cast a big enough vision for how helping people discover a relationship with Jesus could impact our communities.
- We haven’t taught people how to share their faith.
Excerpted from Engage!: A Key to Kingdom Impact (Market Square, 2023) by Phil Maynard. Used by permission. The book is available at Market Square Books, Cokesbury, and Amazon.
Related Resources
- 3 Clues for Reaching New Believers by Lovett H. Weems Jr.
- Be The Welcoming Church, a Lewis Center video tool kit resource
- 50 Ways to Welcome New People, a free Lewis Center resource
