Churchless by George Barna and David Kinnaman

I typically enjoy reading Barna books.

This one left me wanting. After reading other reviews on Amazon, it must just be me but, it seems like I've read all this information before from them.

I know that America is post-Christian in the culture and that many churchless people view the church as out of touch and judgmental. These were covered in great detail in previous Barna books.

The only new information I could find was the bit about advertising/promoting your church and how the ways don't work anymore.

For instance, churches shouldn't make unsolicited phone calls if they expect the average "churchless" person to start coming. The basic mailer won't work either. (Surprise, surprise. Most mail goes in the trash)

The answer, according the Barna's research, is to find a need in the community and meet that need. Maybe it's a matter of everyone know's the answer but nobody's doing it so they feel the need to repeat it.

I must be in the minority after reading this but this was not a great read from the Barna Group. It felt like rehashing the same data we've read before.

This book was provided for review, at no cost, by Tyndale.

You Lost Me by David Kinnaman

David Kinnaman made the splash with the bestseller, unChristian. This book, You Lost Me, is the perfect companion. Kinnaman, in his role as President of the Barna Group, has researched why young adults are leaving the church. Then he offers what the church can do to recover.


First and foremost I need to talk about the print size. This book is a thick and heavy work yet the type is incredibly small. I don't know the actual size, but I would guess it's around 3 or 4 font size. That is the first thing you will notice.

Once you get used to the tiny print, you will discover that this is quite similar to the information found in unChristian. While that book dealt with how people outside the church view those inside, this book deals with how people who have left the church view it. Many of the arguments and complaints are the same. These "nomads, prodigals and exiles" say that the church is:

Overprotective
Shallow
Antiscience
Repressive
Exclusive
Doubtless

After Kinnaman helps explain these reasons for why the young Christians are leaving the church, he attempts to provide ideas to reach out to them and, dare I type it, be relevant in their lives again. He includes 50 short blurbs from other influential Christians on what church leaders need to do.

This book isn't as analysis-heavy as Barna books have been in the past. Instead this resource is a fine example of humble openness to how church leaders and those interested in the next generation(s) can engage and connect.

This book was provided for review, at no cost, by BakerBooks Publishing