Why New People Come to Church

We all want new people to come to church. But often, we don’t understand the reasons why they come to church or eventually join a church.

On this Whiteboard Wednesday, Doug McClintic, Church Multiplication Catalyst for Luminex, discusses why people come to church and the most effective ways to attract visitors into your church. And ultimately, how to bring new people into your community.

A recent survey taken from over 40,000 people who recently came to church revealed their reasons on why they attended:

• 0.5% of respondents – Experienced prior evangelistic meetings or evangelistic crusades, stadium crusades, tv shows, etc.
• 5 – 6% of respondents – Were influenced by the pastor of the particular church.
• 4 – 5% of respondents – Had attended because they were invited to Sunday school.
• 2 – 3% of respondents – Attended because of another kind of church program.
• 2 – 3% of respondents – Walked in.
• 1 – 2% of respondents – Because of different special needs.
• 1 – 2% of respondents – Attended because of a visitation or systematic outreach door to door kind of program.

So, this leaves us with 75 to 90% of the people left. What was their reason for coming into church?

The majority of respondents from the survey identified the reason why they attended was because of a friend or a relative. This is the single greatest factor for getting people to come to your church. Most people reported that they would come if someone would invite them to church with them. And this is something everyone can do. You can send an invitation to a friend or relative to a church gathering, event, or worship service. This is the single best way to get people to come to your church.