How to Reach Secular People [Paperback]

George G. Hunter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 23, 1992

Offering proven strategies for communicating the gospel to people who are atheistic, agnostic, or "ignostic," the author presents a model of a congregation that can successfully convert and assimilate secular or unchurched people.

Product Details

• Paperback: 196 pages
• Publisher: Abingdon Press; 1st edition (January 23, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0687179300
• ISBN-13: 978-0687179305
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #815,079 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

George G. Hunter III is Distinguished Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. A sought-after speaker and workshop leader, he is one of the country's foremost experts on evangelism and church growth. Professor Hunter is the author of To Spread the Power, How to Reach Secular People, Church for the Unchurched, The Celtic Way of Evangelism, Leading and Manging a Growing Church, Radical Outreach, and Christian, Evangelical, and . . . Democrat? all published by Abingdon Press

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Valuable - but don't use it as a prescription!, May 10, 2001

By 

"shabhalishu" (Victoria, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Reach Secular People (Paperback)

George G. Hunter III is Dean of the School of Evangelism and World Mission at Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky and has written such books as "The contagious congregation" and "Leading and managing a growing church". Hunter's stated aim in this book is "to draw together and systematize what is known about effective apostolic ministry to secular people in the West" (p. 18). He combines his own field research with the findings of other "reflective practitioners", a select group of individuals who have both worked at the apostolic task amongst secular people in Western societies and reflected on the process and outcomes in an organised way. Hunter confidently claims that there is sufficient insight contained in his book to help 99 percent of churches to triple the number of people they bring into the Christian faith.

After an introduction in which he outlines the process of secularisation in the West, Hunter goes on to compile a profile of secular people in chapter 1 followed by chapters on themes and strategies for reaching secular people and communication principles and models. The final two chapters outline the kind of Christians and churches respectively that help secular people come to faith. Given that the book is more a compilation of information than a developed argument, the chapter divisions and the extensive use of point form help to organise the data into a somewhat logical and accessible format.

The result is a mine of information, analyses and practical insights, many of which are new and groundbreaking, some of which are not. Almost inevitably though, Hunter is caught between the general and the particular, between limitations of scope and cohesive presentation of data. That his sources are all white, English-speaking males is a limitation Hunter readily acknowledges (p. 17). On the other hand, this cast is sufficiently diverse in time and place to make the attempt to conflate the data into a cohesive portrait appear artificial at times. After all, it is a long way from Soper's soapbox to Schuller's Crystal's Cathedral, from Alan Walker and urban mission to Bill Hybels and seeker services. Approaches which unleash the truly prophetic role of the church sometimes stand alongside those which surrender to the secular world's agenda and values. Many readers will tend to warm to certain "reflective practitioners" and their insights, while downplaying the contributions of others. Moreover, Hunter himself at times presents his Wesleyan theology almost as if it was a common factor.

As is the fate of all such books, "How to reach secular people" has an air of datedness about it. It was published nearly a decade ago and Hunter's sources are often considerably older. More reflection will have to be done on the impact of postmodernism and the New Age in Western society. This book is intensely practical and virtually prescriptive in format but will probably not be entirely successful if applied in a formulaic way. Rather, if it is used to help churches understand the people around them better, to infect Christians with the genuine heart for reaching secular people that Hunter clearly has, and to inspire and motivate congregations to become reflective practitioners themselves and try different things in outreach without reducing the "apostolic task" to technique and management, it will be a successful and valuable book.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Profiles secular people very well, July 23, 1999

By 

Larry Darrell "EazyIanish" (CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Reach Secular People (Paperback)

Hunter effectively pinpoints and labels the different personality catorgories that "secular people" typically fall into. He then explains where their concerns with the Christian church originated. I was ultimately unsatisfied with his sections that profiled successful churchs. Those sections for the most part seemed to be common sense and lacking in any new important insights. Though something could be said for putting it down on paper. Worthwhile for anyone in ministry.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Missing the Mark, October 14, 2009

By 

Patrick R. Reyes "Forward Thinking" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: How to Reach Secular People (Paperback)

Hunter's thesis and title is how to communicate the Christian Faith to secular people. Hunter centers his argument on a systematic approach to effective apostolic ministry to secular people in the West (18). After introducing how the Western world became secular through shoddy historical analysis, blaming the Renaissance, Reformation, Nationalism, science, enlightenment and urbanization, Hunter attempts to display the schism between the Church and the secular world. A schism that was pervasive throughout the modern world, but now is able to somehow be bridged since the "Enlightenment is now extinct" (39). In gross oversimplifications and generalizations, Hunter first sets out to present a profile of secular people: the "ignostics," notional and nominal. Hunter provides a particularly negative portrayal of secular people. Ignorant to "basic" Christianity, untrusting and lacking self-esteem are just a few of such traits. Using this portrayal of secular people, Hunter displays "proven models" which are driven by communication and persuasion principles. Aristotle's rhetorical model, the adoption process and missionary principles are all considerations for Hunter in communication and persuasion. These models lead to a discussion of the importance of the type of theology evangelists use and also the attributes effective communicators have.
Hunter then draws a connection to the state of the church today as similar to the apostolic church. Hunter argues that a recovery of the apostolic ministry is necessary to reaching a "distinct population," communicating the gospel, raising converts, developing congregations and equipping and grounding congregations in Christian beliefs (110). Hunter then revisits the attributes of effective communicators, in a section profiling those Christians who reach secular people. These Christians focus on "a range of human needs," where the communicator meets the secular on neutral or secular grounds (125). Finally, guided by Rick Warren and Bill Hybels, Hunter profiles the types of Churches that reach secular people through contextualization, acceptance, being seeker sensitive and joining/starting new congregations in the practice of evangelization.
While Hunter provides a number of helpful tools to the practice of evangelism, such as his commentary on effective communication as being an active listener, friendly in nature, taking time and telling redemptive stories, there were a number of issues that were not so helpful (98-105). For example, Hunter briefly mentions that "new theologies are virtually impotent for making new Christians from the world" (92). Liberation theology has in its message and intent, a "rooted understanding of the faith at the service of the church's mission of evangelization" (Guitierrez 1988, xliv). While it is understood that Hunter is arguing for a mission field in North America, the theme of liberation still applies to ethnic minorities, the poor and marginalized communities in this same North American context. More importantly, the historical analysis of the six watershed events, noted at the beginning of his analysis, suggests that before these events, Christianity in its early and medieval roots was superior or right in its practice. Furthermore, it treats secularization as somehow apart from Christianity and Christian thinkers; for instance, Hunter states "the Renaissance and Reformation provided the one-two punch that got secularization rolling" (27). This view of history provides a poor platform to begin an analysis because it neglects both the atrocities of the medieval church, such as the Crusades, and suggests a normative claim to the watershed events as exclusively negative: positive examples include the Social Gospel movement and Catholic Social teaching. However, Hunter's view of history reflects the perverted language arguing for a Christianity that is "more caught than taught" (99) and is "contagious" (18). In an oversimplification of Hunter's argument, this rhetoric reflects a Christianity that infects society like a plague, rather than transforming the world through faithful Christian witness.