In the past 10 years I have visited the UK more times than I can recall. It’s been at least once a year, and many years it’s been two times a year.

I was first invited by my good friend’s parents John and Elle Mumford to speak at the National Leaders Conference for the UK Vineyard. My experience there shaped me. I was amazed at how much my heart resonated with what God was doing there. How much I loved the Vineyard family, and how much I loved how that family felt surprisingly familiar here in the UK.

It has been well documented how “un-churched” the UK is as a whole. The US statistics for church attendance hover somewhere around 50% nationally, and are considerably larger in “the south” and considerably lower on the coasts and the urban centers. Regardless what the statistic actually is, it is clear that there is a large pool of “churched” people in the US. These are people that either wake up every Sunday morning thinking they should “go to church” or are from families that felt that way. In one sense, it is group of people that most churches are gathering people from. Most churches in the US are simply trying to make church relevant to those that already feel like they should go, but just don’t. It might not even be because they are angry, they just need someone to “do church” in a way that makes it worthwhile for them to do what their instincts tell them they should do. In places like the south… they are going to go somewhere (at least on Christmas and Easter) and building a large church is simply a matter of just doing church “better” than anyone else in your city. If it’s cooler, more fun, has the processes, and up to date… you have a large church.

None of this is true in the UK.

The “pool” of churched folks is simply too small to grow a church from. Those who were raised in church gave up on church a long time ago. And most that are in a young adult or newly married never went regularly to church or had family that did (maybe with the exception of a grandparent). If you want to have a church at all  in the UK… you better figure out how to engage those that don’t have any life with Jesus, or any interest in that kind of thing. You can’t assume that they want to go to church if it’s “cool enough”, or “relevant”. To put it more simply, most aren’t mad at God, church, or Christians, they simply don’t care about them. It would be like being mad at Zeus, an ancient temple, or Masons… why be mad at them? They aren’t even worth being mad at… the feeling that most have isn’t anger.. it’s indifference.

The reason this is so interesting to me is… this is where the US is heading. In the US we pride ourselves on having created products and media that the whole world consume and emulate… but in this instance, we are following the culture trends of those across the pond. Western Europe and the UK are becoming increasingly “secularized” and starting with the major US city centers, we are following in step.

My heart has always been to help those that are outside of church find a new life in Jesus. Having not been raised in church (and not really having any interest to), I understand how strange and awkward Christian-types can be. I can understand how irrelevant it can all appear, and why most that haven’t been raised in church, write off the faith that is found in Jesus. They haven’t had many positive encounters with “those types” and aren’t sure what possible difference it could make.

I’ve built my life around trying to communicate to those that are un-churched. Not just those that are “de-churched”… but un-churched. Along the way… many who are de-churched rediscover life with Jesus, and some who are still thoroughly churched find new ways to relate with Jesus and those learn how to relate better with those that don’t know Jesus… but my heart remains committed to those that have never known any kind of life with Jesus.

As I have tried to communicate my value for the unchurched in the US it is received with mixed responses. Some think that I am downplaying the role that a good heritage in Christ can play. Some just think that I’m going too far in my “deconstruction” of church life and the communication of our faith. Some just wonder why I don’t just do “good church” and gather those that want a certain type of church… just be a successful pastor. There are plenty of people that just want a good church… just do what they want… and POOF… a mega-church.

It was as I have travelled in the UK… I have found a different kind of hunger for what makes my heart beat. The pastors and believers I know in the UK don’t just theorize about what it would be like to reach to the un-churched… it is their life and death. If they don’t figure out how to connect with the un-churched… the church will die.

This kind of desperation makes for a certain form of creativity that we lack in most US circles. But if the sociologists are right… this exact kind of desperation will be upon us in the US within a generation or two.

My time there inspires me to build a different kind of community here in the US. A community that lives in a future reality now… the reality that there are people all around us that haven’t written off life with Jesus, but simply haven’t seen an expression of that life that compels them to take notice.  The need for this different kind of church will be ever increasing… and I want to embrace it.

Many who write and speak about these trends are fearful prophets warning of the imminent doom of our faith. I am not nearly as fearful. I am hopeful. As I see the vibrant expressions of our faith in the UK that I see a future for the church in the US. A future that is socially aware, presence driven, and incarnational at it’s core. A faith that isn’t nearly as argumentative, and is driven by a desire to make known the gospel of peace in word and deed.

This state of things has forced a new kind of collaboration.  A working together that is an answer to the prayer of Jesus found in John 17. I have seen this in the UK in the ways that networks choose to work together for the sake of the cities that they serve in. Movements like New Frontiers, the Vineyard, the New Wine Network, and the Anglican church as a whole are trying to learn from one another to grow into a full expression of the Body of Christ. At different events that I have attended, I have met people from all kinds of different streams seeking to learn from each other. Their key leaders don’t just attend each other’s events, but are invited to speak and bless one another.

 There is more that I have learned, but it would take too long to write about it. Overall, I’m grateful for the time I’ve spent there… and I pray that they have learned as much from me as I have learned from them.

I doubt it.