United Church Turns to Web in its Biggest Effort to Reach Out to Non-Churchgoers

Caroline Ellison
August 17,2006
Soc 202-02
Current Event: Religion and Ethnicity

United Church Turns to Web in its Biggest Effort to Reach Out to Non-Churchgoers

A recent study in Canada called, “Who’s Religious,” shows that 40 percent of 30-to-45-year-olds don't attend church or other religious institutions. However, statistics do show that 50 percent participate in personal religious activities such as praying at least once a month. In hopes of filling empty pews, the United Church of Canada is using the Internet to reach out to people.
A research team has spent the past year developing a website intended to persuade people to make the church their spiritual home. The church plans to spend close to 9 million dollars towards this effort which will include ads in national magazines and training programs to help different churches develop better welcoming skills. The church wants to engage in conversation with middle age people. They feel that this age group shares many of the same values as the United Church and are interested in having a spiritual life.
To get the conversation going, the church hired a group to conduct informal online surveys. The participants were asked questions like, why don’t you attend church, what do you not like about organized religion, and what are you searching for. The surveys found that the majority of people feel that churches tend to be too judgmental and close minded. On the other hand they seemed happy when it came to talking about institutional religion.
The church wants to offer a contemporary congregation that is more welcoming, and accepting of those with different sexual and relationship preferences. They hope that their congregation which challenges traditional teachings will appeal to more people. Shackleton, Eric. "United Church Turns to Web in Its Biggest Effort to Reach Out to Non-Churchgoers." World Wide Religious News. 14 Aug. 2006. 17 Aug. 2006 .