James Emery White - The Rise of the Nones: Understanding and Reaching the Religiously Unaffiliated

This is a book on the rise of the nones , now the fastest-growing religious group in America. These religiously unaffiliated people have always been with us, of course, but their new classification and the vast numbers who have flocked to their nonlabel label in just a few short years have been breathtaking.

This book is divided into two parts. The first part is an analysis of the rise of the nones , with a look at the rise itself, the characteristics of the average none , why the nones are on the rise, the broader cultural context of our post-Christian world and its relationship to the rise, and the various beliefs present among the religiously unaffiliated. In short, the first section will give you the cultural analysis needed to understand the who, what, and why of the rise of the nones .

I write not simply as a professor of theology and culture who is attempting to investigate a new cultural phenomenon, but also as a pastor; so this discussion is far from academic. For the last two decades I have led a church that targets the religiously unaffiliated in all of its outreach. To date, over 70 percent of our total growth has come from the previously unchurched. I know that is a staggeringly high number, but it has been the dynamic of our church from its inception. So I write not only as one who has been reaching out to the nones for over twenty years, but also as one who has seen firsthand how that outreach is now having to change.

That brings me to the second part of the book, which is an overview of the new mentality and approach that is needed to connect with the rising tide of the religiously unaffiliated and not only reach them for Christ, but also involve them in the life of the church. But do not expect a list of tips and techniques; what is called for is nothing less than a revolution of mindset and strategy.

Finally, Ive provided two appendices that feature two talks delivered at Mecklenburg Community Church (Meck). One of the most frequent questions following conferences and seminars is, Okay, I get this. So how do you actually talk to a none ? What would a sermon attempting to reach out to them sound like and feel like? The two talks are indicative of how one could address some of the key concerns present among the nones .

The two parts of this book remind me of something I once read about the late Francis Schaeffer. Someone questioned him about his engagement of culture in relation to apologetics, asking whether he was an evidentialist or a presuppositionalist.

Schaeffer thought a moment and said, Actually, I think Im just an old-fashioned evangelist. And that is what, in the end, I am. And what I hope, in the end, this book affords others to be as well.