Home Outreach Leaders Articles for Outreach & Missions Why Now Is the Time to Invite People Back to Church

Why Now Is the Time to Invite People Back to Church

2. The most effective way to grow as a Christ follower is to engage in his mission.  Over the centuries, many books have been written and talks have been given attempting to uncover the best way to approach spiritual growth. However, what has been shown to be true is that the surest way to develop as a disciple of Jesus is to follow him by living on mission. As pastors and ministry leaders, the greatest service we can give to the people God has entrusted to us is to challenge them to engage in Jesus’ mission to a hurting world. Encourage them to step out and start a spiritual conversation, even if it simply begins with an invitation to join them at church. These provide opportunities for Christ followers to lean on the Spirit, sincerely pray for those around them, offer their own stories as they listen to the stories of others, and ultimately, introduce people to Jesus and his church, where they can find true community and spiritual renewal.

A primary concern pastors have been voicing over these months is their uncertainty as to whether or not the people of their church are really engaged any more, and if so, to what degree. This has become difficult to sense, especially when so many are viewing online worship from afar. One way to reinvigorate a local church and discover where people are is to encourage them to embrace a missional challenge. This directly addresses the two great questions—how do we reengage our people and how do we reach new people—as well as aligning with the very heart of the early church.

The Missional Challenge Meets the Current Hunger

Lifeway Research recently released a study revealing 91% of Protestant churchgoers are planning to return to in-person worship and attend at least as much as they did pre-pandemic, if not more. In fact, nearly a quarter of that group (23%) indicated that they intend to attend more than they did before COVID. Many were surprised to see that the largest group (43%) of those desiring to attend more than pre-pandemic levels was young adults aged 18–29. There is a hunger for the church attendees to get back to church. As pastors and ministry leaders, we can connect this desire to return to face-to-face worship with the opportunity to live on mission and make a powerful impact in the weeks, months and years ahead. We need to pay careful attention to ensure the interest for in-person worship does not become self-serving and insular, because there is a danger of being driven by nostalgia rather than driven by mission.

Hope Is Here: Back to Church and On Mission

People are struggling, and their struggles cannot be overlooked. A recent Gallup survey found that Americans rating their mental health positively decreased by nine percentage points, reaching the lowest it has been in the past two decades. People are seeking hope, and the church can help them discover that hope in Jesus and provide a safe community to work out their struggles and experience the freedom that comes from Christ’s forgiveness. But that same survey also revealed another fascinating result that relates to worship attendance. The subgroup that indicated the highest percentage of excellent mental health—even above marital status or income—are those who make attendance at weekly worship services a priority. In fact, this was the only subgroup that actually posted a positive gain in rating their mental health as excellent. Every other subgroup saw a decline.

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Jason serves as the Chief Strategy Officer at PastorServe, a ministry committed to strengthening the Church by serving pastors through personal coaching and church consulting. He also hosts FrontStage BackStage, a podcast and YouTube show, that helps pastors embrace healthy, well-balanced leadership as they develop a sustainable rhythm for life and ministry. Prior to joining the PastorServe team, Jason served as Vice President of Ministry Mobilization at Outreach, Inc., and as the Executive Director of the National Back to Church Sunday movement. Additionally, Jason served for nearly two decades in pastoral leadership, primarily as a lead pastor, in several contexts, including church plant re-launch, multisite church, multiethnic urban church, and an established suburban church. His experience as a lead pastor has provided numerous opportunities to coach and mentor pastors across the country. Jason and his beautiful wife, Monica, are the proud parents of six children and live on Anastasia Island, Florida. @jasondaye