Top 5 Reasons People Don’t Attend Church
Brian Davis
One of the biggest questions church leaders fight with is “Why don’t people go to church?” It’s a great question. Obviously churches are different and the reasons that people may not like YOUR church would be different than other churches, but Why Don’t People at least TRY attending church?
George Barna asked this question (he and his team actually asked people who don’t attend church) and he gave the answers in his book, Grow Your Church from the Outside In.
Here are the top five reasons that people gave for not attending church:
1. No time; schedule conflicts; working (26%). Of course, the reality of this answer is a PRIORITY issue. Everybody has the same amount of time, and it’s a Choice how we spend it.
2. Not interested; nothing to offer; no reason (16%). This one is the most scary answer for me. If they aren’t interested in church, it’s because they haven’t been convinced by the examples they have seen.
3. Don’t know (15%). This group of 15% said, They don’t know why they don’t attend church. It’s almost as if we would invite them, they would probably give it a shot.
4. My beliefs are different than the church’s (14%). This is a reason I’ve heard a lot, but in reality, how much do they really know about the Bible or about what a particular church believes? Maybe it’s not the type of church their grandma attended, so they adopt the position.
5. Don’t believe in organized religion – Don’t need to worship at a church (12%). We ALL need friends and support as we go through life. But, as people look at organized religion, they associate things like Bad Attitudes and Judging, so they don’t want to be a part of it.
Trying a Church is a BIG HUGE Step in a person’s life. Honestly, if they give it one shot, that’s probably the ONE shot they’ll give it, and we need to be ready to show the love of God in a Genuine, REAL Way.
No matter what “REASON” they have given, if they try your church, they should walk away with a changed mind, loving the experience and eager to come again.
This article “Top 5 Reasons People Don’t Attend Church” by Brian Davis was excerpted from: http://blog.tbriandavis.com/2012/06/top-5-reasons-people-dont-attendchurch.html . Tuesday, June 26, 2012. It may be used for study & research purposes only.
This article may not be written by an Apostolic author, but it contains many excellent principles and concepts that can be adapted to most churches. As the old saying goes “Eat the meat. Throw away the bones.”
