by Ken Morgan | Aug 4, 2026 | Uncategorized
If you’ve been around the church for a while you’ve probably heard the adage that people belong before they believe. What may surprise you is that belonging and belief may be cultivated in different contexts. In this little series of articles (that are shamelessly promoting a short online workshop) we’ve looked at some of the preconditions that make people more open to adopting a new belief system. We’ve also considered how hearing a warts-and-all story of faith from a friend is more likely to arouse spiritual curiosity than a slick sales-pitch gospel presentation. So lets think about creating contexts where life can be shared and spiritual curiosity might be nurtured. I call these ‘belonging’ environments. Most churches run some kind of activity to serve unchurched people: playgroups, community meals, conversational English classes – the possibilities are almost limitless. The most basic requirement is that they meet a felt need. From there, it’s crucial that people who are yet to make faith decision form warm friendships with those who are already believers. The vast majority of people who make new faith commitments do so because of the influence of family and friends. Making friends with a believer is vastly more predictive of an enduring faith decision than hearing a presentation from a stranger. Within that new friendship, there needs to be open, honest and natural conversations about the believer’s experience of following Jesus – not sales pitches, not contrived happy-ever-after stories, not cleverly-manipulative questions. No scripts, just transparency. That said, belonging environments are generally not the contexts where people hear the gospel as a set of propositions or a cohesive narrative. What’s...
