A couple of years prior to the pandemic, I was an unwilling participant in an ‘evangelism’ experiment. I found myself walking along Elizabeth Street in the Melbourne CBD. Although the footpath was packed with peak-hour pedestrians, up ahead I could see that the six-person wide throng was narrowing to a single file, pressed against a bluestone wall on the right, as if repelled by a force-field emanating from the kerb on the left. The source of the repellent force turned out to be a young man, armed with a portable PA, solemnly reading aloud from the bible open in his hands. I admired his commitment to evangelism. His missiology – not so much.
Research by Stark and Finke[1] found that conversion (i.e. adopting a new religious belief) most often takes place in a close social network, be it familial or friendship-based. People generally adopt the prevailing faith of their social group. Belonging to the group precedes religious conversion. Joining a new social network where strong relational ties are formed is frequently the precursor to adopting a new faith. George Hunter III[2] demonstrates how well this dynamic was put to work by the Celtic monks who effectively Christianised the British Isles and Northern Europe. My own straw-poll research has shown that the overwhelming majority of people who profess Christian faith knew three or more believers before they made their first profession.
People adopt the faith of their friends and family. Moreover, Stark and Finke observe that they are more open to adopting the faith of newfound friends when their pre-existing relational ties have been disrupted. A change of life circumstance, such as becoming a parent or moving to a new neighbourhood represents an opportunity to enter new social networks and embrace a new faith.
Parenthood is disruptive to new parents’ social interactions, especially for women. A woman will often leave employment for a period, and experience her participation curtailed in the social activities of her friends without kids. In seeking to find new contexts for social interaction, a new mum will join a mums and babies group. A mum with a toddler will join a playgroup, thus entering a new social network of peers with similar needs and experiences.
It’s no surprise then that something like 80% of congregation-based churches in Australia identify families with little kids as a major, if not primary mission focus. In the UK, where young adults typically leave home to go to university, a significant proportion of church plants focus on university students. A new location and need to find a new group of friends can lead to considering a new belief system.
Effective mission that leads to disciple-making tends to be characterised by formation of peer relationships, offering a sense of belonging in a social grouping with no pre-condition of making a faith profession.
How does your church create ‘belonging’ spaces? Find out more about mission pathways here
[1] Stark, R. and Finke, R. Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion (University of California Press, Berkeley 2000)