By Ryan Keaton
Emerging generations specialist, Tennessee Baptist Mission Board
Your church has a reputation. Whether your reputation is perceived or reality, a young adult has an assumption of what they will experience before they ever attend. Your online presence often precedes your church’s influence, but the relationship with your community matters, as well. Is your church’s reputation in your community attractive to young adults?
While your perception of your church’s reputation may be positive, young adults in your community, who do not attend, may not have the same opinions. A 2020 Barna Research article reports, “while practicing Christians firmly believe that Christian churches have a strong impact (66 percent positive, 28 percent somewhat positive), the rest of the U.S. population is not as quick to sing their praises.
Only about a quarter (27 percent) agrees that churches have a positive impact — the same percentage (27 percent) who say it has no effect at all. Non-Christians, meanwhile, are inclined towards indifference (39 percent no impact) or more willing to see harm in churches’ local contributions (8 percent very negative, 10 percent somewhat negative).
These statistics are alarming. There is a disconnect between the perceived impact a church makes in their community depending on the audience.
According to these statistics, 94 percent of churchgoers would say their church is making a positive impact in their communities, while 57 percent of non-Christians would say the churches in their community have an irrelevant or negative impact. What is your church doing to bridge the gap of disconnect in your community?
A quote attributed to German theologian Karl Barth states a pastor should “keep the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.”
Pastors should remain tied to God’s Word while keeping their finger on the pulse of the community around them. Pastors can bridge the gap of perceived negligence as they foster relationships with the very ones they are trying to reach.
Where are the young adults in your community? Churches must equip their members to be evangelistically focused. We often attribute the lack of young adult presence to several issues, but the reality is that the problem is not with reaching young adults. The problem is with reaching anybody.
If churches are not raising up members, of all ages, to live evangelistically, they cannot expect to attract anyone, of any age. Having a poor reputation, then, is not so much a public relations problem as it is an evangelism and discipleship problem. We do not have churches living out what they claim to believe.
Tom Crites, in his book Why They Stay, alludes to this issue when he states, “Millennials are peeling away external layers and fluff of the church to discover the ‘anchor’ that helps them live the lives they are living.”
Young adults seem to be searching for moments with God. Interestingly enough, they are searching for these moments detached from the traditional landmarks of faith.
Why? Maybe it’s a matter of applicability. They are trying to see how faith applies to their lives. This search for a significant moment is in response to their perceptions of a church that is culturally and spiritually irrelevant.”
You can attract young adults by providing ministries within your community that reflect your beliefs while also meeting their needs.
Authentic outreach techniques that show you are willing to apply theological truth through daily interactions provide avenues for church members to have conversations with nonbelievers in their everyday environments.
Churches can provide training opportunities that equip their members with the tools they will need to have evangelistic conversations at the schools, coffee shops, sporting events, and businesses in their community.
Do you have a real presence in your community? Does your presence reflect your mission? Does the influence of your church stop outside of the confines of the address of your church building? What opportunities does your church have to interact with young adults before they attend?
Your reputation will either help or hurt the chances of young adults attending your church. Does your reputation profit you? B&R