Reaching Unchurched People Through Groups

If pastors desire to reach the unchurched, it’s wise for them to mobilize the members of their congregations to reach these people.

By Ken Braddy

According to the 2022 Greatest Needs of Pastors study, more than 3 in 4 pastors (77%) say developing leaders and volunteers and fostering connections with unchurched people (76%) are ministry needs they face. The Greatest Needs of Pastors study also revealed young pastors (age 18 to 44) and pastors of the largest churches often struggle to develop relationships with unchurched people.

Three of the five ministry difficulties identified in the study reflect the fact that ministry is done together. Scott McConnell, director of Lifeway Research, noted that “Motivating a congregation to function as one unit in sharing the love of Jesus with others” is the key.

If pastors desire to reach the unchurched, and they do, it’s wise for them to mobilize the members of their congregations to reach these people. One way to share the gospel with unchurched people is to do it transactionally. By that, I mean occasions when we have a short encounter with someone and briefly share the gospel as the Holy Spirit prompts us. In my experience, most believers struggle to consistently share the gospel with this approach.

However, the relational approach to sharing the gospel with the unchurched takes place over time. In this approach, Bible study group members build bridges to unchurched people, creating a relationship based on trust in which they can share the truth of the gospel in a caring way. Group members partner with their pastor by using this approach, joyfully accepting the responsibility of making disciples as they represent Christ as His ambassador.

Sharing the gospel with the unchurched through groups

Outside of your church’s worship services, the most-attended ministry you have is your group ministry. No matter what you call it—Sunday School, Life Groups, Connect Groups, or something else—it has more people in attendance than all other ministries combined. If we’re going to reach unchurched people, it makes sense for us to use the ministry of the church that has the most people in it.

“If we’re going to reach unchurched people, it makes sense for us to use the ministry of the church that has the most people in it.” — @KenBraddy Share on X

Arthur Flake, the first Sunday School superintendent of the Southern Baptist Convention, wrote in one of his earliest books, “The supreme business of Christianity is to win the lost to Christ. This is what churches are for. It was Christ’s supreme mission…surely then the Sunday School must relate itself to the winning of the lost to Christ as an ultimate objective.” For over 100 years, Southern Baptists have used group ministries to reach the unchurched.

As you look to reach the unchurched through your group ministry, here are seven things to keep in mind:

1. Programs don’t reach people—people reach people

Every congregation has people who believe their role is to be at the church when the doors are open. This can lead to an extreme situation in which our congregants enthusiastically support the church and its programs but forget about God’s desire that we reach unchurched people. Give your group members permission to be absent without feeling guilty—to spend time with an unchurched friend or neighbor rather than being at the church campus all the time. If we’re going to be fishers of men, we must sometimes go to the lake. It’s important that we spend time in unchurched peoples’ worlds.

2. Unchurched people like ice cream

The evangelist Juan Carlos Ortiz was known for saying, “Lost people may object to the gospel, but they don’t object to ice cream.” He discovered a truism that unchurched people enjoy relationships as much as members of your church do. He advocated for building bridges to unchurched people for the purpose of sharing the gospel and inviting them into a new life with Christ. Are group members creating margin in their lives to invite unchurched people to have ice cream, a round of golf, or a backyard burger? Encourage the members of your Bible study groups to find ways to genuinely engage the unchurched.

3. Smaller is better

Building relationships with unchurched people requires proximity to them. And when they receive an invitation to attend an ongoing Bible study group, smaller groups tend to be the best places for them to meet believers as they assimilate into the church. An unchurched couple could get lost in a large group. But in a smaller one, they can quickly become known to the entire group.

“If we’re going to be fishers of men, we must sometimes go to the lake. It’s important that we spend time in unchurched peoples’ worlds.” — @KenBraddy Share on X

4. Your curriculum can help

Did you know Lifeway’s ongoing adult curriculum series (Explore the Bible, Bible Studies for Life, The Gospel Project, and YOU) have regular evangelistic, outward-focused lessons every quarter? In addition to that, the inside cover of each personal study guide has a different gospel presentation each quarter. So, in a year, your group members can learn four ways to talk about Jesus with the unchurched.

5. Groups need to be challenged to return to the mission

Unless you consistently remind groups they exist for unchurched people, they’ll likely turn inward and focus more on the needs of the group members than on reaching unchurched people. David Francis, Lifeway’s former director of Sunday School, famously said, “The natural inertia of any group is to turn inward.” I’ve seen this as a group leader at my church. Group members need to be challenged to build bridges to unchurched people and to include them in the group’s ongoing meetings.

6. Groups need name tags, personal study guides, and chairs

It may sound elementary, but group members should wear name tags each week (the “Hello, My Name Is ____” kind are just great). When an unchurched person attends a group Bible study, we must be able to call them by name, and vice-versa. Every unchurched person who attends a group should receive a personal study guide (along with an invitation to return to the group’s next meeting) so they have the same tool group members have. And finally, the room in which the group meets must have some extra chairs for those unchurched guests. Not having them says, “We didn’t think about you,” and that’s a bad message to send.

7. Don’t make unchurched people feel like projects

The last thing an unchurched person needs to hear after you’ve invited them to your group is that there’s an emphasis that day on bringing a friend to church. To truly reach and engage unchurched people, we must be authentically concerned for them and their families, believing Jesus offers them a better life now and in the future. Carey Nieuwhof may have said it best when he wrote, “Growing churches (and yes, that includes small and mid-sized churches too) will realize that connection and community will win out over content in the end.” People need authentic relationships and connection. They don’t want to be your church’s current project.

Bible study groups were once formed for the purpose of reaching unchurched people with the gospel. Over the last several decades, there’s been a slow erosion of that mission. Today, too many groups are focused inward, not outward. You can recover the true mission of reaching the unchurched through your largest ministry outside of your worship service—your church’s group ministry. It’s perfectly positioned to be an outward-facing, evangelistic, mission field-oriented strategy for making disciples.

For permission to republish this article, contact Marissa Postell Sullivan.