This readers’ guide is a resource for church leaders and other individuals who want to go deeper into the message of Churchless. It contains questions for discussion or personal reflection, broken out by chapter. If you plan to use this guide in a small group format over the course of several weeks, divide each week’s reading based on the length of your study. For example, a four-week group study might cover Chapters 1-3 in week 1, chapters 4-6 in week 2, chapters 7-10 in week 3, and chapters 11-14 in week 4. Alternatively, feel free to draw from the questions below and create your own reading plan to fit your group’s schedule and purposes.

For additional resources, visit www.barna.org/churchless.

Chapter 1: Is Churchlessness a Crisis?

1. This chapter describes some of the “mixed feelings” you may have about the unchurched in America. Which feelings are closest to your own at this moment?

2. What drew you to pick up this book? What do you hope to gain from this study of it?

3. Have you ever personally been on the “churchless” spectrum? If so, what were the circumstances? What inspired you to re-engage?

4. What efforts is your church currently engaged in to reach churchless people? How effective would you say they are and why? How do you gauge effectiveness?

5. Barna and Kinnaman suggest that true, loving relationships are “the only remaining currency readily exchanged between the churched and the churchless.” Have you seen this to be true in your own experience?

6. How can understanding data about the churchless contribute to our ability to reach out to them?

Chapter 2: Our Cultural Moment

1. What are some examples of what has “worked” to bring people to church in the past? Why do you think those methods have been effective? Have you seen a change in what works as the cultural moment is shifting? How so?

2. How do you respond to the statement: “We should expect a continued shift away from a ‘Christian nation’ in the years to come. The pattern is indisputable: The younger the generation, the more post-Christian it is”?

3. How has the digital shift had a positive or negative effect on your church practice? What about in the lives of individual members? In your own life? What specific opportunities might exist for your church to channel digital resources toward engaging with young Christians?

4. This chapter reveals some of the impressions churchless people have of the church, along with data on those groups who are most and least favorable. Did any of this information surprise you? Challenge you? Give you insight into ways your approach might be adjusted?

5. This chapter names specific contributions that unchurched people would like to see from the local church. In which of these is your church engaged? Why do you think these particular items are important to the unchurched, and what do they communicate about their perceptions of what Christianity is supposed to be?

6. Why are many of us reluctant to witness to those in our sphere of influence? How can we recapture an urgency to fulfill the Great Commission while treating our churchless friends with respect?

Chapter 3: Profiling the Unchurched

1. Barna and Kinnaman say that the majority of the unchurched have, in fact, had experience with the church but still remain uninterested. This should motivate us “to examine how our local church looks in the eyes of the de-churched and consider making appropriate changes.” How, specifically, could you do this in your church body?

2. Was there anything in this chapter that surprised you about the demographic distinctions between the churched and the unchurched populations?

3. What are some specifics about the type of spiritual experience and community churchless people are seeking? In which of these areas would you say your church is strong or in need of improvement? In the latter cases, what might you do to engage more deeply in this area?

4. Why do you think that serving together is described as an indispensable means of connection between the churched and unchurched? Can you think of examples from Scripture of people from disparate backgrounds who came together through service? What can we learn from his and what are some specific ways you might apply it?

Chapter 4: Perceptions of Faith, Christianity, and Churches

1. What are some of the negative images held of Christians in contemporary culture? Do you believe this is deserved? Why or why not?

2. What, if any, means do you have of getting honest feedback from non-regular attenders about how they perceive your church?

3. Barna and Kinnaman identify a major challenge to local churches as “the conflict between their desire to counteract the media’s negative portrayals and their desire to act with humility rather than chase accolades for their ministry’s good works.” How has this played out in your own experience?

4. What does your church offer to churched and churchless people that is too valuable, too meaningful, for them to ignore?

Chapter 5: Doing Faith

1. Have you personally gone through a season when you were less engaged in God’s Word? How might that experience help you to relate to unchurched people? What resources might you offer them to engage more deeply?

2. Barna Group says, “Six out of ten unchurched adults admit the faith they possess today is no different from their spiritual maturity when they were a child. On average, that means they have not grown much if at all, in more than three decades….” How might this statistic help inform your next conversation with an unchurched person? What might you share with them as a benefit of church attendance?

Chapter 6: The Creed of the Creedless

1. What is your own church background, and how did it inform the faith you have ultimately claimed as your own?

2. Think of a specific unchurched friend. How does that person view the Bible? The purpose of life? The central focus of faith? If you’re not sure, consider “going deeper” with that person to find out where they stand and why.

3. According to Barna and Kinnaman, most unchurched people “generally do not believe that God is in the trenches with us, feeling our pain and sharing our suffering.” How might coming to believe this change their engagement with Christianity and why? What avenues might you have to share this aspect of God’s character and heart for us with the unchurched in your life?

Chapter 7: Born Again and Unchurched

1. Have you ever heard someone argue that it’s not possible to be a follower of Jesus and avoid engagement in a local church? What is your own view?

2. Have you had active Christians leave your church and subsequently choose to disengage from church? What were the circumstances? What efforts have you made to reach out to them?

3. According to Barna Group data, what factors are most likely to inspire born-again unchurched people to return to church? Which of them are in effect at your church? Why is it that this group might be more inclined than others to engage?

Chapter 8: Disengaged and Dropping Out

1. Would you say that the number of people involved in a ministry is a gauge of success? Why or why not?

2. Consider the three categories described in this chapter of those who journey away from church: exiles, nomads, and prodigals. What similarities exist between the groups, and what differences? How might your faith community reach out to each group in a unique way?

3. Of the specific reasons given for why young adults drop out of church engagement, which do you think might most apply within your faith community? Why would you zero in on that one? To what extent do you think it is the role of your church to address that perception, and how might you go about it?

4. How will your church support and disciple the “new normal” family?

Chapter 9: The Intersection of Family and Faith

1. In what ways and to what extent do you see the American family being reinvented in your community? How does it affect the way you do ministry?

2. Do you find that “regular” churchgoing today is defined differently than it was five or ten years ago?

3. This chapter reveals: “Only 7 percent of the unchurched would rely on faith resources in a family crisis.” In what ways is your church body known for being a support and resource during difficult times? How do you intentionally find and reach out to those in your community who might be in need of assistance?

4. To what extent do you see offering resources for parents to be the role of your church? In what ways? What benefits do you see? In your experience, do your unchurched friends and neighbors share in the desire for those benefits?

Chapter 10: The Ideals that Propel the Unchurched Forward

1. What is the single most important goal for your life? What about your top five? Which of your goals are personal, and which communal? Which of the responses shared by the unchurched surveyed would also be on your list? How might this inform your approach to conversation with them about the things that matter most in life?

2. Have you found that leading a conversation with the morality card closes down the conversation immediately? Is the only option to ignore morality with an unchurched person, or do you think there is an effective approach to dialoguing about it?

3. “In interactions with the unchurched,” Barna and Kinnaman say, “church leaders should consider how to downplay connecting with a church and instead emphasize the opportunity to bond with God.” Why is this? How and why do you think it might be effective?

Chapter 11: This Is How They Roll

1. Are you surprised by the lack of difference between the churched and the churchless when it comes to lifestyle choices? Looking at your own life, habits, and behaviors from the outside, how would an observer be able to recognize you as a follower of Jesus?

2. Consider this statement: “When it comes to service and sacrifice, there is a marked difference in the choices of the churched and unchurched.” Is there a culture of service and sacrifice in your faith community? What forms does it take? How pronounced would you say it is and why? What about it might intrigue an unchurched person and inspire them to engage on some level?

3. What specifically comes to mind when you consider this application of the Golden Rule: “Do to the churchless what you would want them to do to you, if your roles were reversed”?

Chapter 12: Reaching the Skeptics

1. Do you know people who identify themselves as “spiritual but not religious”? What do those terms seem to mean to them?

2. Can you think of any public figures who are exceptions to the rule that atheism has become “what all the cool kids are doing?”

3. To what extent does your church specifically have skeptics in mind as you approach your outreach efforts? How does the information presented in this chapter support your endeavors, or challenge you to do something differently?

4. Jesus was as likely to ask questions as he was to offer answers. How might you do the same in your relationships with skeptics, and what might be the result?

Chapter 13: Faith, Future Tense

1. What creative approaches have you employed in seeking to attract churchless people to church? How do you measure the success of such approaches?

2. What is your opinion of home visits? Does your church currently practice them, and if so, how? Were you surprised by the survey’s results in this area?

3. How do you keep Christ as the true center of your church and all its activities, rather than becoming simply a source of various spiritually oriented activities?

Chapter 14: Why Churches Matter

1. How would you, personally, answer the key question posed in this chapter: Why should people go to church?

2. What are some of the primary ideas, information, and takeaways from Churchless that have most impacted you during this study and why?

3. How have you seen someone personally come to meet God through involvement in your church?

4. In what ways has church most contributed to your own life, relationships, and spiritual growth? What might have been different had you not become part of a faith community?

5. In which areas would you say your church is strong at reaching out to the churchless, and where do you see most room for improvement?