More than 3 in 4 pastors (77%) say developing leaders and volunteers and fostering connections with unchurched people (76%) are ministry difficulties for them. This is according to the Greatest Needs of Pastors study that took place in 2022.

The data from the Greatest Needs of Pastors study also revealed that young pastors (age 18 to 44), and pastors of larger churches, often struggle to develop relationships with unchurched people. Pastors at churches with attendances between 100 to 249 (79%) and 250 and more (81%) identified reaching the unchurched as a need more than those at smaller churches (fewer than 50 in attendance).

Three of the five ministry difficulties pastors identified in the research study have a common denominator: they 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 is 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 – a waiter or waitress, or someone God brings across our path in our day-to-day schedules, and we briefly share the gospel as we are prompted by the Holy Spirit. In my experience, most believers struggle to share the gospel consistently in this approach.

The second way to share the gospel with the unchurched takes place over time, and that is sharing the gospel relationally. In this approach, the members of our Bible study groups build bridges to unchurched people, creating a relationship based on trust in which the truth of the gospel can be shared 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 service, 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 are going to reach unchurched people, it makes sense to use the one ministry of the church that has the most people in it.

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” (Building a Standard Sunday School, p.96, 1922). 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. It is true that 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 sometimes must go to the lake.  It is 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 are invited to attend an ongoing Bible study group, smaller groups tend to be the best places for them to be introduced to believers as they are assimilated 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.
4. Your Lifeway curriculum can help. Did you know that 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 that your group members can learn four different 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 will 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, PSGs, 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 be given a Personal Study Guide (along with an invitation to return to the group’s next meeting) so they have the same tool as group members. 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 is an emphasis that day on bringing a friend to church. To truly reach and engage with unchurched people, we must be authentically concerned for them and their families, believing that Jesus offers them a better life now, and in the future.  Carey Nieuwhof may have said it best when he noted the following in his blog post titled 8 Disruptive Trends That Will Rule the Church in 2021. Speaking about the post-pandemic church culture he said, “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 just 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 is perfectly positioned to be an outward-facing, evangelistic, mission field-oriented strategy for making disciples.