Courtney is 28, single, educated, attractive, slim, and has never attended church, though she has several questions about church that make me squirm. She transferred to our area nine months ago from Roanoke and received a sizeable salary increase.
She is buying a condo and leasing a yellow ’06 Porsche Boxter. (She had a Mazda Miata but it got hit in the side.) Oh, and she also has a cat. (I don’t know what kind. I don’t really care for cats.)
Courtney has never been to an SBC church, has never heard of Lottie Moon, the BF&M, or Morris Chapman. She thinks that Baptists do something with snakes, but is not sure what (or why).
She had an abortion in 2001. Last Sunday at Kroger she saw a woman with a really young infant. It made her feel strange – maybe some guilt there. (She doesn’t talk about it.) Her parents are divorced and her dad has never known about the abortion.
Courtney likes reggae, genuine relationships/sharing, “meaning” in life, and she wishes that she could do something about poverty, hunger and/or AIDS. (She once sent $50 to one of the organizations that pledges to help hungry children. She wonders if the money really got to them.)
There are 1000’s of people like Courtney in our area. (Forty-six percent of Boone Countians were born outside of KY.) Perhaps they didn’t all transfer from Roanoke, but most would not feel “right” in a lot of our churches.
Associations who help their churches learn to relate to the Courtneys of the world have a promising future.
Associations who cannot or choose not to address these challenges will increasingly talk about how great the 60’s were and will become less and less effective.
Rick Robbins, DoM
Northern Kentucky Baptist Association
2 comments:
Great post and great case study! (Though my cat takes great offense at your cat comment.)
Agreed. Most associations and most churches would not know how to reach Courtney. And there is another end of that spectrum. We have more senior adults than ever before, and more unchurched senior adults than ever before. And most churches, and associations do not know how to reach them either.
That is why it is so important that associational leaders are part of the community, have friends who are not pastors, and listen to folks in the area. It is so cool when a DOM knows his neighbors, local politicians, and speaks to people working at the bank and grocery store by name.
When you know your community, and the people in your community, you can reach them. May God help all of us to be relevant and connected in the days ahead.
You know how you reach Courtney? You share the gospel with her! You don't patronize her. You be real with her. You don't try to be buddy-buddy with her and try to make her think your such a cool and friendly person. You love her as yourself and share the gospel with her! Do most churches really not know that?
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