November 12, 2001

Dallas research shows personal
invitation most effective outreach
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___DALLAS--The most-effective means of getting an unchurched person to attend church is a personal invitation from a friend, according to research done in Dallas by evangelical pollster George Barna.
___But before the unchurched person actually attends church, he or she may have received multiple personal invitations, data from the Barna Research Group also notes.
___Barna's researchers recently took the pulse of the unchurched population in Northeast Dallas on behalf of a Baptist General Convention of Texas congregation engaged in a strategic planning process.
___Results of the telephone poll conducted in July on behalf of Wilshire Baptist Church are thought to have general application to many other urban areas in Texas as well.
___Barna's pollsters made 10,600 telephone calls to reach 560 respondents within a target area bordered on the south by I-30, on the west by the North Dallas Tollway and on the north and east extending a few miles past the LBJ Freeway.
___Of those reached by phone, 202 were classified as unchurched, defined as individuals who have not attended a church more than five times in the last six months. Nearly two-thirds of those meeting this criterion said they had not attended a church even once during the pas t six months.
___Given a list of several things that might make them more likely to attend church, three-fourths said the personal invitation of a friend would sway them. This constituted the most-common answer to the question. However, previous national research done by Barna indicates that unchurched people do not readily respond to such invitations. It may take three or more personal invitations before the person will respond, Barna reports.
___Dallas residents responding to the Barna survey said some of the commercial methods churches may use to speak to them actually do more harm than good. For example, 46 percent said receiving unsolicited material in the mail from a church would make them less likely to attend the church. Only 25 percent said such mailings might make them more likely to try the church.
___Likewise, newspaper advertising received a negative rating, with 48 percent saying they would be less likely to attend a church promoted by such ads and only 15 percent saying the ads might cause them to attend.
___According to U.S. Census data compiled by the research office of the BGCT, the area encompassed by the survey is home to 600,000 people, of which Barna classifies 36 percent as being unchurched.
___That translates to 216,000 unchurched people living within an 8-mile radius of Wilshire in a church field also directly served by at least four other large BGCT churches.
___If 15 percent of that unchurched population might be positively influenced by advertising, that is 32,400 potentially reached. But if 48 percent might be negatively influenced by advertising, that is 103,680 turned away.
___In addition to desiring to be invited by a friend, survey respondents said they would be impressed by a church that hosted a community event. While such events may get the unchurched to the church one time, getting them back will take additional planning, Barna reported.
___Conversations with the unchurched in Northeast Dallas paint a conflicted picture of moral and spiritual issues.
___For example, 89 percent say they want to live with a high degree of integrity, but only 31 percent are satisfied with their day-to-day integrity.
___Likewise, 81 percent desire to have a clear purpose for life, but only 18 percent believe they have found a clear purpose.
___Also, 76 percent desire close personal friends, but only 29 percent say they are extremely satisfied with the friendships they have.
___Sixty-one percent say they desire a close relationship with God, but only 12 percent are extremely satisfied with their spiritual life. At the same time, only 16 percent say they desire to be active in a church.
___Only 30 percent of the unchurched said they perceive Christian churches to be "friendly" places, and only 15 percent said they perceive the church to be "a place where people are real and genuine."
___On the positive side, only 25 percent of the unchurched said they perceive Christian churches to be "closed-minded," and only 25 percent said they perceive churches to be irrelevant to their lives.
___When asked to suggest what the church could do to help them personally, more than half of the unchurched gave no answer. This included 27 percent who said there is nothing the church could offer to help them and another 27 percent who said they didn't know how the church could help them.
___Of those who did make suggestions, the most common response was a request to help them find ways to reach out to help their community, especially the poor.
___More than one-third of the unchurched said serving the needy in the city would be a convincing reason for them to get involved with a church, and 32 percent said they would be very likely to attend an activity to assist the needy.
___Similarly, among parents interviewed, 37 percent said opportunities for giving their children religious training would be a convincing reason to get involved with a church.
___On a personal level, the top issues the unchurched said they need help with are finances (24 percent), raising children (16 percent), dealing with work (15 percent) and coping with health or illness (14 percent).
___The Dallas data ties in with trends discussed by Barna on his current national speaking tour.
___During a recent presentation in Louisville, Ky., Barna said unchurched people usually come to a church because they are struggling with an important, life-impacting issue, not because they want to worship.
___National research has shown that churches effective at reaching unchurched people allow visitors to be anonymous, Barna told the Kentuckians.
___Visitors don't want to have to wear a nametag or stand up and identify themselves, he explained, but they do want some personal treatment.
___For example, visitors hope someone will give them an authentic greeting, he continued. And visitors who share their name and address with the church would like a thank you from the senior pastor. But they don't want a home visit or a gift.
___A greeting from the senior pastor is important, Barna said, because of the "big-kahuna principle." Any thank-you must come "from one kahuna to another," or the unchurched visitor will feel as if he or she is being "shuffled off to the second string," Barna said.
___He recommends a strategy with unchurched visitors similar to that of any personal encounter--be genuine, relevant and real, and let the relationship take its course.
___At the Kentucky conference, he listed characteristics of churches that effectively reach the unchurched:
___ The senior pastor is a genuine advocate of reaching the unreached.
___ The ministry is culturally relevant. From the worship style to the language being used, churches that reach unchurched people find ways to connect with people who don't know traditional church language and practices, he explained.
___Ironically, surveys have found that unchurched people's view of the ideal church includes a music program that has traditional hymns with contemporary instruments and arrangements. The reason, he said, is that most unchurched people have a church background and are comfortable with the hymns, even more so than praise hymns or other unfamiliar music.
___ Efforts are made to ensure that the church is serious but that everyone enjoys the experience.
___"This was one of those eye-opening revelations for me," Barna said, recalling a church that had programs in place to reach the unchurched but wasn't being successful.
___In a conversation about why members weren't bringing their friends, one older woman said bluntly, "Oh, pastor, I could never bring my friends."
___"Why?" the pastor asked.
___"I don't even enjoy coming here," she responded. "Why would I bring my friends here?"
___ Church members are prepared to explain their faith. Too often, churches assume they can get visitors to confine their questions about Christianity to a "Church 101" class or conversations with a staff member, Barna said. But most people's deep, meaningful questions arise during dinner or other casual times with Christians they know or meet at church, he said.
___ The church provides multiple points of entry. From sports leagues to topical conferences and lectures, effective churches find a variety of ways to interact with their community.
___ When people come to worship, they experience the presence of God. "The unchurched tend to come when they are struggling with something and they need an answer," he said. "They're not coming for an intellectual service. They're coming for an emotional service."
___With additional reporting by David Winfrey of the Kentucky Western Recorder

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