Why don’t people make time for church? This is a question I have often read about, discussed with others or heard talks examining the reasons.
Could it be that people don’t know what it’s about any more? Do parents or carers not see why it would be worthwhile for their child to go to church? At a small group for 9- to 10-year-olds, two churched children shared how their friends thought that ‘church was for babies’ and ‘there were more important things to do’. Churches have become much better at making our communities aware that we exist, but are we as good at telling them what we exist for? What would a child gain from coming to church?
[blockquote]Publicity with a purpose – We should state in everyday language the real, unique reason why people should come to your group. The church offers true hope, values, purpose, acceptance and forgiveness through faith in Jesus but this is overlooked in publicity which mentions food, fun and friends. If Christians downplay our main strength, we will lose our appeal.[/blockquote] As Ed Stetzer said during his keynote at the 2012 ACNA Provincial Assembly, “The Church is not a store that provides consumer religious goods and services.†When we organize, promote, advertise, and speak of the Church as such, that is when the Church loses out to the secular world.