Have you ever thought that America is not as “Christian” as
it used to be? Or that fewer Christians in thsi country seem to have a church
home? Churchless takes a look at the
exodus that Americans have taken from churches over the last several decades. Powered
by research from the Barna Group, which has been conducting research on
churchgoing and spiritual opinions and habits of Americans for the last thirty
years, the authors take a look at recent trends in an attempt to understand the
reasons and motivations for church attendance, or the lack thereof.
Although it was full of survey results, I found the book to
be an easy read, and quite eye-opening. Through the research, many shifts in
culture become apparent in relation to the reasons church attendance is down. Churchless would be a great resource for
church leaders, specifically those in charge of outreach. It doesn’t give
simple step-by-step solutions to bring people back to the Church and to Christ,
but there really is no simple answer. Instead, the reader is provided with
awareness and general areas to target. Getting to know one’s local community is
encouraged.
I did feel as though the book put too much emphasis on
church attendance itself instead of evangelism. Since most non-church attendees
are not born again Christians, it strikes me that the target needs to be more
along the lines of evangelism. However, they do examine how churches are viewed
by non-believers and can better structure outreach to target current cultural
trends.
The information presented in Churchless is something that
Christians today need to be aware of, particularly church leaders. I recommend
this book to anyone seeking to reach the churchless for Christ!
I received this book
for free from the publisher through the Tyndale House Publishers blogger review
program. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions and
thoughts I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with
the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255
No comments:
Post a Comment