It is important to realize who we’re reaching and who we’re not reaching when we invite the community to our Easter church events.

My church planting coach Larry Deal sent me this.

“This link is to a summary on [The Barna Group]’s new research on church attendance.  I was wondering how your experience compares with the report.  I was especially interested in the new terms and definitions.  No more unchurched.  He splits it up into the unattached and the intermittent.  The churched are now split up into the homebodies, the blenders and the conventional.  He says that almost no unattached will visit church during the Easter season but that many intermittents will.  The article also gives information on some of the thinking and behavior of the unattached.”

Caution: I have mixed feelings about these new terms.  Like the old terms, they are meetings-centered, not Christ-centered.  They also sound negative.  I wouldn’t go around calling house church folks “homebodies” or rally your congregation to go spend time with those “unattached” folks this Easter!  Would you appreciate being called an Intermittent?  Also, some of George Barna’s descriptions of the people he calls Unattached do not match my experience in Los Angeles.  In two days I’ll share some of what I wrote back to my coach about Barna’s update (click here to read).

But one thing Barna’s report helps us to see is that if you want to lead the so-called unattached to Christ, you probably are not going to get them to come to your church however wonderful your gatherings and programs are.  Does this match your experience?  If so, it is probably better to follow in the footsteps of Christ by going to the people - into their streets, their hangouts, their homes.  Perhaps God is going to start a new church through a family or group you help lead to Christ!

Inviting some people to come to your Good Friday event and attend your Easter Sunday service is going to touch some hearts.  Let’s also see what we can do this Easter season to be Christ where the people are.  What will you and I do to build spiritually-influential relationships with those who will not be coming to us?