Some Statistics On the Number of Unchurched in US

[James Nored]

 

Here are some statistics about the unchurched from The Tangible Kingdom.

• "The Barna group reveals that one-third of the adult population (34 percent) has not attended any type of church service or activity, other than a special event such as a funeral or wedding, during the past six months. Citing past research that discovered most unchurched adults were formerly churched, the new study indicates that six out of ten unchurched people (62 percent) consider themselves to be Christian, four percent say they are Jewish, four percent are associated with an Eastern religion, and 24 percent say they are atheist."
• The most recent research studies by the Barna Group "reveals that one out of every three adults (33 percent) is classified as unchurched--meaning they have not attended a religious service of any type during the past six months. When these statistics are projected across the aggregate adult population, the numbers are staggering. An estimated 73 million adults are presently unchurched. When teens and children are added, the total swells to roughly 100 million Americans."
• "Since 1991, the adult population in the United States has grown by 15 percent. During that same period the number of adults who do not attend church has nearly doubled, rising from 39 million to 75 million--a 92 percent increase."
• "In America, it takes the combined effort of eighty-five Christians working over an entire year to produce one convert."

What do you think is causing the dramatic rise in the number of unchurched in the US? What do you think that we can do to slow or reverse this trend?

[Ann Dunagan]

Wow. those are staggering statistics, especially the last one, "In America it takes the combined effort of eighty-five Christians working over an entire year to produce one convert."

 

In our area, we've been doing a lot of one-on-one street ministry and going door-to-door doing random acts of kindness on a weekly basis, sharing God's love and inviting people to church. For most people, it seems that they don't ever even think about church, or maybe they've been hurt in the past and think it's just not worth the effort. We've gone 7 weeks in a row, for a few hours every Saturday morning, with 7-18 volunteers each week. Some people ask, "So, have you had anyone come to church yet?" Even though the answer is no, we're still going out. Our area needs JESUS (in fact, we've heard that the NW -- as in Oregon and Washington state) are the least-churched of all 50 states. We're spiritually claiming our city for God. We're sharing God's love (and sometimes really surprising people with kindness like free fancy hot chocolate & whipped cream w/ caramel sauce, sweeping sidewalks, washing windows, cleaning neighborhoods, or visiting elderly people in nursing homes).

 

Even when we can't see any results, we still need to plant seeds, and trust God. The Holy Spirit is the One who brings the increase. We have to leave the results up to Him.