What Unchurched Young Adults Want from a Church

In their recent book, Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches that Reach Them, Ed Stetzer and co-authors Richie Stanley and Jason Hayes found that 63% of young adults said they would attend a church if that church "presented truth to me in an understandable way that relates to my life now."

15% of the younger unchurched attended church weekly as a child and have no current
animosity toward the church, yet 37% are hostile toward the church and Christians. Four out of 5 unchurched adults aged 20 to 29 in the U.S. believe a supreme being exists. Though they are not attending church, 3 out of 4 claim the existence of God does or would impact their lives, but this does not seem to translate into involvement in a church.

Nearly three-quarters express some level of agreement that the Christian church is generally helpful to society. Young unchurched African-Americans agree more than others (25% to 7%) that the church is the only place to learn what it means to be Christian. (Lost and Found, Stetzer, Stanley and Hayes, B&H Publishing Group 2009)