What I’ve Learned from the “NeverChurchers”
After over 15 years in parish ministry in the United Methodist Church, I ventured outside of the church walls in to the great wide open in 2013. I have spent the last six plus years in a combination of secular employment, volunteer clergy and appointed extension ministry, both here and abroad. I have learned so much about the folks outside of the church – the ones I call “NeverChurchers” - who would never even consider attending a church service outside of a wedding or funeral (and those are even becoming less frequent). I’ve talked for hours with a variety of people from all different backgrounds – those raised religiously (Christian, Jewish and Muslim) but no longer practice or even “believe”, as well as those who were raised without any religious background at all – and I’ve heard very similar refrains from many of them. And much of what I’ve learned is very different from what I assumed when I was working inside a church. As a member of a large suburban church staff for mos