Pastors: Please Reach the Unchurched this Easter

Every year it’s the same thing.

Every year many churches are filled to the brim only a few times a year. Oftentimes this will be Ash Wednesday and Palm Sunday, Easter Sunday and Christmas Eve. The faithful mass-attendees will be there, of course, alongside many inactive church attendees who trouble themselves that they have to go to mass, at least once a year.

Every year this happens, but not much is done about it. Nobody in clergy or in lay ministries I’ve seen have ever stepped up and made a concerted effort to reach the lax, the disenfranchised, the under-catechized, and those of the lost generations.

Not this year.

The Current Epidemic

Two weeks ago I ran an informal poll on another part of reddit, asking Christian believers what it would take for a church to invite them back. This was on an interdenominational Christian forum, so I kept it ecumenical. I wasn’t concerned with proselytizing. I just wanted to get insight into their logic.

The answers were most illuminating. The reasons why many self-described Christians do not go to church are the following:

• Many Feel Alone in Churches
• Political Inclinations
• Forget The True Benefits of Attendance

Many Feel Alone In Churches

The biggest takeaway was that they see that their friends stay away in droves, so they follow through. They don’t know how to relate to going to churches with congregants who may be of different age ranges than they are. The generational shift is real; they are currently going through issues that they feel are not being addressed. They see rows of elderly parishioners, or they see families with young children, and nobody is their age.

I remember when I was in my twenties, and this was a struggle for me as well. I would go to church, and even though I had the joys of receiving Communion and completing my Sunday observance, I still felt out of place, with homilies that do not resonate; oftentimes the anecdotes and little asides of the homilies were resonant to those of a certain age, which was the majority.

It was hard for me, a new convert to the faith, then. Think of how much harder is would be for someone who forgets about what the Eucharist is? No wonder there’s such apathy!

One person (whose denomination was a mystery), shared his dissatisfaction with the music being too pop-oriented, and wanted a return to traditional hymns. Being ecumenical, I had asked why not go to another mainline church that played hymns—in fact, a sizable percentage of all churches continually do such. He shared that he would be the only one of his age group there. So it wasn’t about the music, but about the loneliness.

Many were disappointed in those churches with very strong outreaches. They were very friendly, almost too accommodating, almost looking at them as being too pressured to make some sort of evangelistic quota. They decried the double-lives of such friendships, an inauthentic approach that they could see right through.

And yet, some of these same individuals shared of them feeling ostracized in the pews. Female non-married twenty-somethings felt judged. Some were going through a hard time, but didn’t feel any way to connect for the church to help guide them in their time of trial.

I get that this is a tricky double-edged sword. On the one hand, they want people to get close enough to hold them in their need, but on the other hand, any attempts to be inviting will be judged as manipulative and inauthentic. Are such judgments warranted? Probably not. But this is the result of growing up in a world where every kind action is looked through a cynical lens. Chalk it up to the pedophilia scandal of latter years.

Political Differences

Another big problem is that of the concern that much being spoken from the pulpit is too much geared towards political hot-button issues that they hold a different stance on.

In much too often, the term “Republican agenda” came up in the results. Many young adults have varying degrees of disagreement with where many church attendees on specific real-world issues, and oftentimes this is aligned with at least one side of the political aisle.

Is the Church “Republican” today? Granted, there are some non-negotiable issues that the Church stands for, that one side of the political aisle has appeared to assuage concerns (even though there is little evidence of any actual headway being done in those areas).

But the case needs to be made that the Church is not Republican, nor is it Democrat. There is no political platform that currently exists that accepts what the Church fully believes.

So while I do not wish for sermons to ignore occasional hot-button issues, I think the orators need to go the extra mile to assure church attendees, explicitly, that this is not about political parties. That this is not about being Republican or Democrat. That such labels are not conducive to being a Christian today.

Interestingly enough, to such individuals, I had asked, repeatedly, what it was that was keeping them from going to a church—any church—that catered to their political views. Surely there are churches out there of different denominations, or even from within the same denomination, but caters to those of varying political perspectives.

There was no answer.

Logic dictates that if you don’t like a certain restaurant, you don’t go to that one anymore… and yet you still have to eat. But for this new generation, the congregations that cater to their political leanings have simply not benefited. New swaths of twenty-somethings have simply not banged down the doors of their local liberal-leaning parishes. That strategy has not worked.

When I was struggling with specific doctrinal hot-potatoes all those years ago, the one constant for me was the reality that the Eucharist is real, and the source of life. Far from being a distraction, it was the one factor that kept me interested in the debate, long enough to give both sides a fair hearing, and to ultimately side with the Church.

If you were to preach on the controversial issue, please stress strongly the compassion on the other side, make it as apolitical as you can, and do so under the context of the living reality that God is love, and alive in the Sacrament.

Forget the True Benefits of Attendance

Those who do not attend Church on a regular basis have forgotten that doing so is in compliance with the Third Commandment, that is:

“Remember the Sabbath Day and Keep it Holy.” (Exodus 20:8).

One who was addressed with this fact stated that they would rather get their observance by simply going to a park with others and reading the Bible there. In that case, I had asked what they were doing to be proactive in that pursuit, to ensure that they could very well have their Bible reading and conversation in a city park. The response was a slow-backtrack, no plans were ever made about such.

For those in liturgical traditions, in particularly Catholic parishes, the Sunday observance carries a stronger meaning: the reception of Holy Communion, which is Christ Himself. Not one person shared their concern on missing out on reception of the Sacraments, which goes to show a lack of understanding of the doctrines of their own faith. Not only lack of understanding, but lack of incentive, of purpose, and of hunger.

When I was a twenty-something believer, attending a church where everybody was a different age from me, and I felt desperately alone, I was sustained by the knowledge of Christ’s presence in the Eucharist. When I saw that nobody around me really “got it,” and was simply going through the motions, I was sustained by the knowledge of Christ’s presence in the Eucharist. When I heard a sermon that was boring and sang insipid, dated songs, I was sustained by the knowledge of Christ’s presence in the Eucharist.

There Needs to Be A Plan

Parishes need to reach out to these inactive parishioners as to their being welcome there. Churches need to step up and look at this as an evangelistic opportunity that it is.

I had asked my survey-takers that, supposing there was a church out there that worked extra-hard to accommodate their needs—political, authentic, and tastes—how they could best let these non-church-goers of their existence.

There was simply no answer.

“Perhaps a billboard” wrote one. I have seen billboards inviting people to their different-denomination churches, sometimes addressing directly the issues that most of these individuals had. Most of the billboards I had seen were tacky, by definition. Even if they were effective, most of these denominations were still losing members. They were not reaching the youth and young adults.

Which really goes to show that habits are hard to break. People get into a routine, and it would take a strong reason to break them out of that routine. Sleeping in is a luxury, as is staying up late on a Saturday night.

People don’t wake up early to go to a gym if they are complacent with their current state of health. People don’t wake up early to go and work on their side business if they are complacent with their current state of occupation. People need to be reminded of their current state of their souls, that to skip out on Church is cheating their spiritual life, and that the Church needs them.

The Homily Needs to Address the Inactives

I truly understand how a minister or deacon can get into a routine, knowing their congregation, and catering to the needs of such. The jokes, the points of references, the specific needs of a family that they have grown to love.

I am asking them to pivot their message as if they are speaking to a different type of group, even to a different generation. Because they are.

It may mean that you would have to re-state some of the basics of the faith for that week. These same basics would seem fully redundant on any other week, but not this one. It should be expected that regular parishioners know of the importance of Communion and weekly observance; but not this week.

Furthermore, it is important to do so—mandatory, even—to reframe the topic in a manner that appeals to their age group.

Those who are twentysomethings are looking for three types of talks:

• Affirm Current-Day Reality
• Authenticity
• Challenging Calls to Action

Affirm Current-Day Reality

For those who are Catholic, I would really encourage to bring up the subject of Eucharistic miracles. Because the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith, and it is the only incentive I got to stick it out to going to Church for all those lonely years in my twenties.

But when you do so, move away from abstract examples and get to real tangible ones. Eucharistic miracles are one such avenue. Thankfully, the Eucharist is front and center in the readings for Holy Week.

But I would also then talk about the results of modern independent scientific experiments on such miracles have come up with any rational explanation.

Or, perhaps you would want to bring up another real-world issue, The Shroud of Turin. Many are simply ignorant of the existence of this miracle cloth, also studied by scientists, also ignorant of any rational explanation as to its existence.

Authenticity

Sermons can very well be forthright, and that is a very good style for many different generations. But those who are millennials are looking to connect, and so are seeking authenticity. That means being vulnerable.

That means you should not only share doctrine, but share what it means to you, personally. And sometimes it’s a hard teaching. Sometimes you can share you have had times where you doubt. Or that being a faith-filled believer does not mean that everything is roses from then on.

Twentysomethings are tired of the same old trope that being a Christian means health, wealth, and a perfect life. While it is true that God desires all His children to become Saints, oftentimes such a journey would be ragged and hard, with unforeseen pitfalls coming for them. They need to be assured that being of faith may not be “safe,” but ultimately “good.”

Challenging Calls To Action

Lastly, do not beat around the bush in your sermon. It may not be your style to be direct, but if there is one time to do so, it is then.

Invite them back to the church.

At the end of a sermon, remind them that they are missed, they are loved, and that the Church is not ignorant of their needs. Remind them that they are obliged to attend in accordance to following the dictates of the Third Commandment, and to not do so may put their soul in peril. Remind them that the Eucharist is the Bread of Life, is Jesus meeting them, and that God is calling them to Friendship and Purpose.

Hard sayings, but necessary. Frequent churchgoers will not mind this reminder. They will actively pray for there to be bountiful harvest.

Follow-Up

After this, I implore you to find a means to follow up.

In past blog-posts I mentioned the idea of inviting them to receive a certain PDF file (article, novena, etc.) that they can get from joining an email list. In the internet, that is called a “lead-magnet,” and it is used all the time.

But it doesn’t even have to be that complicated. You can simply have cards in the pews, with pencils, inviting them to connect with you, so you could ask them their needs, their concerns, their wants, their desires, their disenfranchisements, their disagreements, their intangible issues that you would want to somehow address.

Once you get their names and email addresses, craft a survey for them that asks them directly what they would desire for that church to reach out to them.

And then take the responses to prayer, and your parish committee, and craft up a solution that meets their needs.

Conclusion

I get that sometimes a minister can get comfortable in speaking with their flock over a long period of time, that it demonstrates a strong shift of mindset to purposefully go after non-attendees.

Furthermore, I understand that many of these people have made sinful choices in their lives (as we all do, to varying degrees). Some are in sin and should not receive the Sacrament (although we will not know who should or should not), because God is all holy, and Scripture dictates that we should not do so in an unworthy manner. This does not make for easy evangelization. But it should help instill ideas for what to do in the follow-up, to provide not only sound catechesis as to why the Church believes as it does, but to also find avenues for reconciliation and filling in the God-shaped hole in their hearts, which had been replaced by that activity.

We are all called to the New Evangelization. We are called to be Fishers of Men.

There are few avenues where you can have the unchurched’s attention. Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday are just two weeks of the year where they will attend.

Do not waste this time.

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