Unchurched Friend #1

Ashley Coffin
Unchurched Friend #1
Survey:
1) What do you think is the greatest need in your area?

* I would have to say the greatest need in my area is homelessness.

2) Are you actively attending a church?

* I've been to church a couple times, but I don’t regularly go.

3) What are a few issues or topics that impact/interest you?

* Some issues that interest me are children in other countries (or even in the USA) suffering from poverty.

4) Why do you think most people don't attend church?

* I think most people don’t attend church because they haven’t been brought up around it. They think it’s boring, or they think the services are too long.


5) If you were to look for a church to attend, what kind of things would you look for?

* I would look for a church where I felt I was welcomed and noticed every Sunday and I would look for a church where I felt I was spiritually growing.


6) What advice can you give to pastors who really want to be helpful people?
* The advice I would give would be for the pastors to be non judgmental, and to listen well when someone opens up and tells them something.

Based off of this survey, I want to say that even though people might not attend church there are some out there that really have good hearts. The person that completed this survey spoke of homelessness and children overseas, which are many topics of interest in the church. I think what stood out to me the most was that it’s important for the person to feel welcomed to attend a church. They don’t want to be judged, but want someone who will listen and help guide them to a better life. People really want relationships. This person stated outside of the survey that they do not like churches where no one talks to one another. They want to feel part of a family almost. It’s also important for the pastor to be conscious of the service time. Some churches can go for hours and no one will complain. But depending on the location and type of people you are reaching out to, keep in mind how long the service is. Especially for new Christians, it is hard to sit through a service that is three hours long. They need to learn basics every week. The overall feel I got from this person was that, church shouldn’t be a place where people go to and feel bad, and I think that’s how a lot of people that don’t attend regularly view it. That they are going to show up, be judged for their sin and they won’t return. People are seeking a safe place to be themselves, to be embraced, to have someone to listen to them, and to be guided. Sometimes we treat them as if they were from another world, yet as we can clearly see through even this survey they are very similar to us and their hearts desire the same thing, a relationship.