A recent Barna study says going to church is not that important for growing faith.
March 25, 2014 — What, if anything, helps Americans grow in their faith? When Barna Group asked, people offered a variety of answers —prayer, family or friends, reading the Bible, having children—but church did not even crack the top-10 list.
Although church involvement was once a cornerstone of American life, U.S. adults today are evenly divided on the importance of attending church. While half (49%) say it is "somewhat" or "very" important, the other 51% say it is "not too" or "not at all" important. The divide between the religiously active and those resistant to churchgoing impacts American culture, morality, politics and religion.
Why the huge decline?
Millennials who are opting out of church cite three factors with equal weight in their decision: 35% cite the church's irrelevance, hypocrisy, and the moral failures of its leaders as reasons to check out of church altogether. In addition, two out of 10 unchurched Millennials say they feel God is missing in church, and one out of 10 senses that legitimate doubt is prohibited, starting at the front door.
In another recent survey more than 4,000 people were asked what first had brought them to church:
* 2-3 percent of them said they just walked in, and another 2-3 percent said they came because of the programs.
* 5-6 percent were attracted by the preacher, and
* 1-2 percent came out of a special need they had, and a similar figure said they had been reached by an evangelism program.
* 4-5 percent came because of a Sunday school class, while less than
* 1 percent was touched by a public evangelistic crusade.
* Somewhere around 75-90 percent had been brought to the church through the influence of friends and relatives who had gone out into the battlefield and brought back those who had been wounded.
Witnessing is what we do. It's what I'm doing right now. It's what you do when you forward this magazine to someone else.
* 2-3 percent of them said they just walked in, and another 2-3 percent said they came because of the programs.
* 5-6 percent were attracted by the preacher, and
* 1-2 percent came out of a special need they had, and a similar figure said they had been reached by an evangelism program.
* 4-5 percent came because of a Sunday school class, while less than
* 1 percent was touched by a public evangelistic crusade.
* Somewhere around 75-90 percent had been brought to the church through the influence of friends and relatives who had gone out into the battlefield and brought back those who had been wounded.
Witnessing is what we do. It's what I'm doing right now. It's what you do when you forward this magazine to someone else.
It is what Donald Sprigg is asking for in in commentary in the Onion in February of this year (see page 11).
They are not coming because we are not asking.
Our job is to tell the story, let’s get busy.
Peace & Love
Pastor Steve
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