3: Profiling the Unchurched
PROFILING THE UNCHURCHED
Demographics and Self-Descriptions of Churchless People
Since 2008, we have seen significant reductions in church service attendance, adult Sunday school participation, small group involvement, Bible reading, prayer, personal evangelism, and donations. At the same time, the number of skeptics and adults who are unchurched has increased substantially.
American Religiosity on the Decline
Percent of all US adults
Source: Barna Group annual OmniPoll
* Indicates activity done within the prior seven days
** Indicates activity done by born-again Christians within the past year
{Insert line graph “American Religiosity on the Decline”}
The number of unchurched adults in the United States has increased by more than 30 percent in the past decade. As of 2014, the estimated number of unchurched adults stood at 114 million. Add to that the roughly 42 million children and teenagers who are unchurched and you have 156 million US residents who are not engaged with a Christian church. To put that in context, if all those unchurched people were a separate nation, it would be the eighth most populous country in the world, trailing only China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the remaining churched public of the United States (159 million). It would dwarf every nation in Europe and surpass the population of Japan. Such a precipitous drop in religious behavior should give us pause.
Source: Barna Group annual OmniPoll
{Insert line graph “Ups and Downs in Faith”}
In spite of the benefits of being engaged in a community of like-minded spiritual sojourners, millions of American adults make a conscious decision to keep the Christian church at arm’s length. In fact, in the past decade, the growth in the number of unchurched adults has been staggering —an increase of about 38 million individuals. That’s more people than live in Canada or Australia.
However, the relatively few purely unchurched adults should serve as a wake-up call. Only about one in ten adults has never attended a Christian church at any time in his or her life, other than for a special service such as a wedding or funeral ceremony. The majority of unchurched individuals have firsthand experience with one or more Christian churches and, based on that sampling, have decided they can better use their time in other ways. This fact should motivate us to examine how our local church looks in the eyes of the de-churched and consider making appropriate changes —not for the sake of enhancing attendance numbers but to address the possibility that we do not always behave like the church Christ died for.
To that end, knowing we must understand the people whom we hope to lead back into the community of Christ-followers, let’s dig into the research to better understand who the unchurched are, how they think, how they live, and what they are seeking in life. Just as Jesus meets our needs for forgiveness, acceptance, understanding, belonging, truth, purpose, and much more, perhaps we can better understand and meet the needs of those outside the Christian community, and more effectively engage them in a transformative spiritual experience.
America’s churched and unchurched adults have a lot in common: They’re people trying to make sense out of life, making the best decisions they can in order to thrive within the framework of their worldview and the opportunities presented to them. Many Christians are surprised to discover that the profile of the unchurched is similar to their own. Granted, some tendencies differ, but these are rarely substantial. In fact, there are no glaring demographic differences between the two groups. In the interest of being comprehensive, however, let’s examine some of the marginal demographic distinctions.
A Few Minor Gaps
It remains true that churchless people are somewhat more likely to be men than women (54 percent of the unchurched are men, compared to 46 percent of the churched), but the gap is not huge and has been steadily closing. For instance, in 1994, 58 percent of the unchurched were men. That percentage reached 60 percent in 2003 before it began consistently declining, until stabilizing the last few years around the current level. In other words, the gap between men and women has plummeted from 20 points in 2003 to just 8 points in 2013.
The unchurched tend to have completed fewer years of formal education, but again, the gap is not huge: 50 percent of the unchurched have gone no further than high school graduation, compared to 45 percent of the churched. Overall, 22 percent of the churchless have completed a four-year college degree, only slightly less than the 26 percent among the churched.
Geographically there is a separation of just a few percentage points. The biggest gap is found in the Pacific coast states, where residents comprise 20 percent of the nation’s unchurched and 14 percent of the churched. The average gap between the churched and unchurched in all ten US Census divisions is only 2.5 percentage points.
More pronounced are demographic differences related to marriage and age. Although marriage is under siege culturally, it correlates somewhat with church attendance. Among the unchurched, less than half (44 percent) are married, while the number is closer to six out of ten among the churched. A greater proportion of the unchurched (29 percent) than the churched (22 percent) has never been married. Unchurched adults are also about four times more likely to be cohabiting than the churched (11 percent and 3 percent, respectively). Both groups are equally likely to be divorced, separated, or widowed.
The younger a person is, the less likely he or she is to attend church services —though the difference is not as dramatic as you might expect. Overall, 15 percent of unchurched adults are in the 18–30 age bracket (the Mosaic generation), compared to 11 percent of the churched. Thirty-six percent of the unchurched are Busters (born 1965 to 1983), compared to 33 percent of the churched. One-third (33 percent) of the unchurched are Boomers, compared to 35 percent of the churched. One out of every six (16 percent) unchurched adults is an Elder, while just over one-fifth (22 percent) of the churched are among those 69 or older. Most unchurched adults are younger than 50, while most churched adults are over 50. However, the actual age gap is only a few years (a median of 47 years among the unchurched compared to 51 among the churched).
Even the ethnic and racial distinctions that once separated the two groups are no longer as substantial. Overall, 70 percent of the unchurched are white, compared to 65 percent of the churched; 12 percent of the unchurched are Hispanic, compared to 14 percent of the churched; 10 percent of the unchurched are black, compared to 16 percent of the churched; and 6 percent of the unchurched are Asian, compared to 4 percent of the churched.
In 2012, Barna Group partnered with the American Bible Society, the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, and OneHope to produce a comprehensive study of the faith and values of Hispanic and Latino adults, who represent one out of every six US adults —a proportion that will continue to grow in the coming decades. Compared to all Americans, Hispanics report a higher rate of dropping out of church at some point in their lives (67 percent compared to 59 percent among all adults). Unchurched Hispanics are less likely to report very favorable views on Christianity (26 percent compared to 37 percent) and the church (17 percent compared to 31 percent). It is likely that at least some of these less favorable views are related to the child abuse scandals in the Catholic church, given that a majority of Latino adults (68 percent) are Catholic. (If you want to understand more about one of the fastest-growing segments of the US population —and of the churchless population —check out the Barna Group monograph Hispanic America: Faith, Values & Priorities.[6])
While a few of the demographic differences between churched and unchurched are statistically significant, we discovered no pattern that delivers mission-critical insight into the thinking and actions of the churchless, or a can’t-miss strategy for appealing to them. In fact, the data uncover so many similarities between churched and unchurched people that we have to conclude that a number of stereotypes about both groups are not valid.
In contemporary American society, transcending demographic stereotypes is increasingly feasible. Statistically speaking, for example, it is more likely than ever that a black adult will have an average or above-average household income, or that a woman will be as highly educated as a man. Our common demographic stereotypes need a radical makeover. Status and achievement levels are constantly changing. As discrimination based on gender, age, race or ethnicity, and income has decreased, so have the obstacles that once hindered demographic movement.
Nobody Knows Me Like I Do
A good place to turn for a better understanding of churchless people is to churchless people. Of course, asking others to describe themselves does not generate a completely accurate portrait —we human beings often have a distorted view of ourselves, or intentionally shape our public image to our advantage —but it does provide a reasonable facsimile of who they are.
As is the case with demographics, we discovered by interviewing unchurched folks that many of the stereotypes we hold about them are not valid. Perhaps most significant is that more than one-quarter of the unchurched are seriously interested in matters of faith, and nearly two-thirds have generally positive perspectives on faith matters. Consider the self-identification of unchurched adults:
These numbers do not paint a portrait of Christian zealots, but neither do they reflect the common stereotype of “Christophobics,” people who disdain Christianity and do all they can to belittle it or tear it down. Depending on how we slice the data, there are more than 40 million unchurched adults in the United States who are significantly interested in Christianity —not just as a religious system, but as a values code, a moral standard, a relational base, and a way of life.
The type of spiritual experience and community churchless people are seeking has a decidedly postmodern slant. For example, these are not individuals prone to seeking the “one right way” or absolute moral truth; four out of five admit they are very open to considering moral views different from their own. In addition, social and environmental issues are their priority. More than four out of five say they care deeply about social justice, with half going so far as to say they have a “passion” for social justice. And more than four out of five say they are very concerned about the environment.
Part of the reason the unchurched do not feel as if they are missing out on church life is that they are largely upbeat about the future and believe they can figure things out and make life work. Nearly three out of four are optimistic about their future despite the fact that two-thirds are uncomfortable with the shape the world is in. The churchless are no more likely than churched folks to find themselves in serious financial debt; only one out of six is in financial trouble. Most of them (80 percent) feel “very much at peace with life.” A similar proportion believe they live a “simple life,” while at the same time, two-thirds say they are totally committed to getting ahead in life. Four out of five want their life to make a difference in the world, and more than three-quarters contend they are clear about their life’s meaning and purpose. They are interested in making a local impact, with four out of five saying they want to contribute to the good of their community.
Clearly, the lives of the unchurched are not dissipating into chaos and disappointment. However, not everything is pristine in their world, either. A slight majority admit they would make significant changes in their past or future, given the chance. Less than half feel they have deep “soul connections” with friends. Nearly two out of five claim to be stressed out. And despite claiming clarity about why they live on earth, nearly half (47 percent) admit they are seeking further insights into the meaning and purpose of their life.
Reflections on the Unchurched Profile
As we’ve seen, unchurched adults are very much like churched adults . . . except they don’t attend church. Here are some additional insights based on our research to get you thinking about who they are and how you might better connect with them.
They tend to be culturally savvy, capable of gathering, interpreting, and responding to information in ways that advance their causes, support their dreams, and make sense to them. Brian Wurzell, worship pastor at Hillside Community Church in Rancho Cucamonga, California, believes that “we’ve got to get better at engaging/investing in technology. The speed of technological advancement has required the church to either stay with it or lose its ground. Churches that are choosing to embrace technology as a medium for the message tend to be the churches thriving.”
As part of this book project, we interviewed several dozen pastors from different denominational traditions, church sizes, and cultural contexts to get their on-the-ground perspectives about relating to the unchurched. Pieter Breytenbach, a pastor in Pretoria, South Africa, highlighted skepticism and technological savvy as hallmarks of churchless adults. We asked, “Do you think the unchurched audience is different today from fifteen years ago? How?” Pieter’s answer: “People are a lot more literate and have much more opportunity to research other opinions.” This observation aligns with our research. Churchless adults tend to be independent and self-reliant, more skeptical than the churched about the motivations of people and institutions, and ready to stonewall those entities until they prove trustworthy and beneficial. Many do not trust others easily and are not prone to taking statements at face value. When talking with the unchurched, be prepared to back up your claims with persuasive information.
Like their churched counterparts, most unchurched people want to make a difference in the world, leaving their mark on the people or causes that capture their heart and imagination. Many look for other people and groups that care about the same things, and are more likely than churched people to invest themselves in some type of difference-making project. Several of the church leaders we interviewed whose communities are successfully engaging with unchurched people emphasized serving together as one indispensable means of connection (besides being an indispensable activity of living as God’s people!). Jason Garcia, pastor of Saddleback San Clemente, told us his congregation invests in “cause-related events that connect with community concerns.” Brian Wurzell reiterated that “social responsibility in our city” is a non-negotiable. Often, much of the volunteerism encouraged by churches focuses on serving the church itself. If serving is to be a point of engagement with the churchless, it must be directed outward, to benefit and bless the surrounding community.
Forward Thinking
• Consider the characteristics of the unchurched as analyzed in this chapter. How does your direct experience with churchless people square with our findings?
• What information about the unchurched surprised you most? Why?
• How have your assumptions or stereotypes regarding unchurched people changed after reading this chapter?