November 6, 2025
The Crux of Evangelism
It comes down to this: Do you care? Do you value lost people? Do you have the same compassion for them that Christ had for you (John 3:16; Romans 5:8)?
Articles for tag: Unchurched
November 6, 2025
Gone Fishing Lately?
If we’re serious about trying to reach lost sinners and fish for people like Jesus told us to, then it’s essential we understand the beliefs, behavior, and belonging of those we’re fishing for so we can use the right kind of “bait.”
December 25, 2019
Book Review: ‘What Made Jesus Mad?’
Reviewed by Caleb Kaltenbach Tim Harlow excels in ministry leadership. He serves a growing church—Parkview Christian in Chicagoland has gone from 150 to 10,000-plus—mentors countless people, and encourages fellow senior ministers. He has served as president of the North American Christian Convention and authored Life on Mission: God’s People Finding God’s Heart for the World. And he’s done all of this—plus earned a doctorate—while loving his family and displaying courage, humility, and a sense of humor. However, if Harlow were asked what he’s most proud of in his ministry (besides his family), my guess is he’d say, “Leading a church
May 13, 2018
Will Christianity Really Disappear in Three Generations?
By Haydn Shaw We’ve been warned this will be the last Christian generation unless we do something now. That concerns many, quite understandably. Ten years ago, my mother-in-law, who lives with us, gave me some material on how to teach a Christian worldview to our children. She told me she had heard someone claim that unless we do something drastic, most of our children will leave the church, and ours will be the last generation of the Christian era. She didn’t know if that was true, but she wanted to make sure we taught her grandkids everything they needed to
March 9, 2018
What Are Your Church’s Push and Pull Factors? (Part 2)
By Kent Fillinger Last month we looked at “push” factors that cause a person to leave a church or religion. This month we look at conditions that “pull” someone into one church or faith over another. Common “Pull” Factors A LifeWay Research survey asked about 2,000 “unchurched” Americans (those who have not attended a worship service in the last six months, outside of a holiday or special occasion) what, if any, life experiences would make them more open to consider turning to the church for help. The top three life experiences (as reported in Facts & Trends, Fall 2016)
August 19, 2017
Urban Church Planting: A Conversation with Eric Metcalf
By David Dummitt When I was first invited to write an article about urban church planting, I planned to write about trends, research, data, and the like. But after thinking about it some more, I decided that rather than share my thoughts, it would be more powerful to share the insights of someone in the proverbial trenches of urban church planting. I recently sat down with Eric Metcalf, a colleague, fellow church planter, and friend. Eric and his wife, Erin, are church planters in downtown Chicago. Eric is also the residency catalyst for NewThing. Their passion for the Jesus mission,
June 20, 2017
5 Reasons Church Planting Should Matter to You
By David Dummitt Not long ago, when you talked to church leaders about church planting, eyes would glaze over and conversation topics would awkwardly shift. I”m excited to live in a time when this is changing. Organizations like NewThing, Stadia, Passion for Planting, Orchard Group, and others demonstrate that more and more churches are passionate about planting even more churches around the globe. Whether you lead a congregation of 50, 500, or 5,000, your engagement in church planting is critical to the mission that Jesus gave us to be and make disciples. Multiplication is a charge for each one of
January 1, 2016
Counting the Cost of a Growing Church
By Eddie Lowen Before you decide you want your church to grow, let me tell you the price you will pay. After taking the staff and elders of a former church to a leadership simulcast in the late 1990s, I learned that I still had a lot to learn. For several years, Rick Warren”s book The Purpose Driven Church had been making a huge impact on churches applying its principles. The simulcast was a way for our leaders to catch this kind of vision. Our church was already growing in size and health, but I knew there was another level
May 14, 2015
Evangelism Today
By Kent E. Fillinger To learn more about the state of evangelism in our churches, we asked questions of a dozen ministers from churches of all sizes: “¢ David Clark, lead pastor, Central Christian Church, Beloit, Wisconsin “¢ Scott Clevenger, lead pastor, Christ”s Church Camden, Kingsland, Georgia “¢ Doug Dykstra, lead minister, Adventure Christian Church, Tavares, Florida “¢ Tim Harlow, senior pastor, Parkview Christian Church, Orland Park, Illinois “¢ Jerry Harris, senior pastor, The Crossing, Quincy, Illinois “¢ Nathan Head, executive pastor of ministries, Southland Christian Church, Nicholasville, Kentucky “¢ Cal Jernigan, senior pastor, Central Christian Church, Mesa, Arizona “¢
April 1, 2015
Ideas for Reaching Mom”s Family on Mother”s Day
Did you know churches see the third-largest attendance of the year on Mother”s Day (see graph)? Do you know why? It”s not because more moms are there. No, attendance swells on Mother”s Day because family members who love the moms choose to show their love by attending on that special day. That means Mother”s Day is a great day to reach many unchurched people with the message of Christ. So instead of (or, perhaps, in addition to) doing the traditional Mother”s Day message and handing out roses to moms, it”s time to strategically love on those whom these moms love.
July 16, 2014
The Discipline to Discipline
By Jim Tune The words church discipline can conjure up vivid imagery that seemingly affirms the world”s worst perceptions of church. Nathaniel Hawthorne”s The Scarlet Letter serves up a twisted picture of the ostracizing of an adulteress by both church and community. Is this what we mean by church discipline””visions of Hester Prynne skulking around her nightmarish New England town? A solidly biblical approach to church discipline is the only way to heal fractures, restore right relationships, and ensure the health of the church. Discipline is not simply the unhappy task of ordering troublemakers out of the church. Indeed, discipline
June 24, 2014
Size May Not Matter
By Mark A. Taylor We”ve been chronicling megachurch success for more than three decades at CHRISTIAN STANDARD. But in spite of encouraging growth, both in size and number of megachurches, an underbelly of suspicion toward them remains. Our Beyond the Standard conversation May 15 with Jud Wilhite, Dave Stone, and Don Wilson, showed this. These ministers with the three largest megachurches among the independent Christian churches shared practical ideas and thoughtful strategies””always with a spirit of humility. But too many questions from listeners contained veiled accusations of compromise to achieve numbers. So when I came across a report from Leadership
September 12, 2013
Leading with Love in Las Vegas
By Vince Antonucci Travis moved from New York City to Las Vegas to make money. He was a photographer and started showing up at nightclubs and strip clubs asking, “How about you make me your photographer?” Travis became the photographer for many of Vegas”s nightclubs and strip clubs, and then strippers. Before long, Travis was sleeping with the strippers. Travis”s wife found out, and she moved out with their kids. Travis began convincing strippers that they could make more money, and soon he became their pimp. Travis is the kind of person I moved to Las Vegas to reach. We
July 2, 2013
40 Under 40: Aaron Brockett
AARON BROCKETT Lead pastor, Traders Point Christian Church, Indianapolis, Indiana “Masterful” was the only word in the e-mail I sent to Aaron on a Monday morning to comment on his sermon of the day before. It was the best word I could think of to express appreciation and to convey encouragement. Actually, there are many Monday mornings that this procedure could be repeated without becoming trite or overused. Aaron”s teaching is relevant while firmly grounded in Jesus and his story . . . lengthy but highly engaging . . . delivered without notes yet extremely well-prepared. He is straightforward but
June 11, 2013
From Fad to Phenomenon
By Mark A. Taylor Is “missional” just a fad? Will church leaders and seminar speakers still be talking about “missional” a decade from now? We can hope the answer to both questions is no. As churches everywhere begin to believe the missional approach is basic, natural, necessary, and biblical, the need to define and discuss it may fade away. Maybe someday church leaders everywhere will see “missional”””just like “evangelistic” or “loving” or “Christ-centered”””as central to the very definition of church. Matt Smay and Alan Hirsch express some concern about overuse and misuse of the word. Just like “externally focused” or
November 29, 2011
Rhythms and the Word
By Glen Elliott Healthy people and healthy churches understand rhythms. The teacher was spot-on when he said, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). There are times for long hours and intense work. There are times for rest and relaxation. If you stop and observe, almost anything that”s healthy in life has a rhythm. There are growing seasons and seasons where we let things lie fallow. We exercise our muscles intensely and then we must rest. Too much of one or the other can be detrimental. Every church has a
October 22, 2010
Starting a Church for People Who Don’t Like Church
This week Verve, a Christian church in Las Vegas, held “Vault,” a church planting lab “where current and future church planters can learn how to start a church for people who don”t like church.” The event began Monday and ends today, and included sessions on a variety of topics including “Understanding & Starting an Indigenous Church for Your Community” and “Marketing to the Unchurched.” Click here to learn more.
December 6, 2009
Reaching Unbelievers: How Effective Is Your Church?
 by Kent R. Hunter It was Tuesday morning and that meant the weekly ministry review at Starbucks. Jonathan and Jason are ministers with small churches south of Portland, Oregon. Today”s topic drifted toward Pathway, the megachurch in town. The conversation was similar to thousands occurring among ministers. Megachurches offer more programs, better worship music, slicker printed pieces, and specialty staff. People in our society seem to shop for everything, including church. The membership of small congregations””such as the two these men serve””is declining, while megachurches make headlines. Jason and Jonathan enjoyed their coffee, but had a bittersweet attitude about
August 30, 2009
The Multisite Movement: Success Stories
by Darrel Rowland The couple had a simple question: How much does it cost to join the church? That”s when the leaders of Rocky Mountain Christian Church (www.rmcc.org) knew they were hitting their target audience of unchurched people with their first multisite campus. “They said, “˜Don”t you have to pay a membership fee? Do you have to buy tickets? We”ve never been in church before,”” recalls Rick Thielen, who helped launch the new 30-acre site about 17 miles east of Rocky Mountain”s home campus in Niwot, Colorado. “When you start getting those kinds of questions, you”re starting to get
August 22, 2007
Can the Church Impact Culture?
By Mark A. Taylor This column last week spoke of changing culture by changing the lives of those who never before knew Jesus. But how does the contemporary church get outside itself truly to impact the society around it? When pressed to guess what percentage of their new members are totally unchurched, ministers” estimates range from “very few” to as high as 50 percent. Bob Mink at Discovery Christian Church, Moreno Valley, California, for example, says those they reach usually attended church sometime, but long ago. “We see our ministry as reclaiming them and/or recalling them to the Lord and
