An attractional church is a church that seeks to attract people to its services and activities through appealing to consumer interests and preferences. The goal is to design church experiences that unbelievers will find relevant, exciting, and engaging. Proponents of the attractional model believe the church should meet people where they are and remove barriers to the gospel message. Here is an overview of key aspects of an attractional church model:
Emphasis on Relevance
Attractional churches emphasize creating experiences that connect with modern cultural interests. This could include using current music styles, popular movie clips, and addressing topics considered relevant to people today. The goal is removing anything perceived as outdated or irrelevant to attract newcomers. For example, pastors may preach series on finances, relationships, parenting, addiction recovery and other felt needs. The church rejects traditions and rituals not seen as helpful for connecting with unchurched people.
Experiential Worship Services
The attractional church designs experiences meant to engage the senses and emotions. Worship services utilize state-of-the-art sound, lighting, and visuals meant to wow attendees. Services follow a carefully scripted order aimed at facilitating an impactful spiritual experience. Elements like altar calls, raising hands in worship, and times of communal prayer reinforce active participation. The sermons often employ captivating stories, multi-media presentations, guest speakers, and other creative elements to deliver Biblical truth in an appealing, practical, and relevant way.
Customer Service Orientation
Attractional churches adopt a customer service approach to guests and newcomers. The goal is removing obstacles to church involvement and meeting felt needs. Churches may offer premium parking, comfortable seats, refreshments, childcare services and follow-up contact. Staff receive training in hospitality to make first-time visitors feel valued. Everything from the worship music to the preaching targets the preferences of the unchurched. The orientation reflects a consumer mindset of church compared to say outreach or discipleship.
Come and See Evangelism
Attractional churches invite unbelievers to “come and see” by experiencing church programming. The assumption is that relevant, exciting services will draw non-Christians to faith. Evangelism happens primarily through the Sunday worship service. Churches tailor the service to answer common questions and address spiritual curiosity. Follow-up contact seeks to move newcomers further into church involvement. Attractional evangelism relies on the church event being the outreach rather than Christians going out. The emphasis is bringing unchurched Harrys and Marys into a compelling church experience.
Contemporary Aesthetics
Attractional churches adopt contemporary architecture, technology, and communicative aesthetics. Buildings often resemble modern concert halls or theatres over traditional sanctuaries. Churches favor video, electronics, and concert lighting over such things as crosses, religious iconography, and hymnals. The goal is an immersive, stimulating environment catering to modern sensibilities. Even the use of movie clips, current event commentary, and other multimedia further the contemporary feel. The idea is removing anything that feels old, distant, or irrelevant to modern people.
Targeted Programming
Attractional churches offer a wide array of targeted age-specific and interest-specific programming. Examples include specialized youth groups, young adult ministries, singles groups, support groups, sports teams, and creative arts ministries. The idea is having niche entry points to engage people based on life stage, family status, interests, and hobbies. Once involved in a program, people can then be exposed to other ministries and invited to Sunday services. Churches also host special outreach events catering to specific interests and demographics in the community.
Come as You Are Climate
Attractional churches strive to create a “come as you are” climate free of judgement or pressure. The goal is helping unbelievers and church skeptics feel comfortable engaging with Christianity on their own terms. Churches avoid overt religiosity and churchy insider language that could alienate seekers. The come as you are emphasis also signals an accepting posture regarding casual dress, different family structures, unconventional lifestyles, and doubts or struggles with faith.
Staged Conversion Process
Attractional churches design a staged process to facilitate eventual conversion. First-time guests are made to feel welcome. Those who return receive invitations to classes, programs, or small groups to build relationships. Over time people get exposed to more direct gospel presentations and invitations to accept Christ. Follow-up seeks to involve new believers in service opportunities and church membership. The attractional process provides incremental steps toward eventual commitment versus expecting immediate conversion at first contact.
Cultural Adaptation
Attractional churches emphasize adapting to the prevailing culture versus critiquing or countering it. The goal is framing the gospel message within the reality of contemporary society. Teachers address practical questions and difficulties people face in relating Christianity to issues of modern life. Congregations take stances seen as less adversarial or contrary to mainstream values. The adaptive stance aims to make the church feel current, relevant, sympathetic and accessible to those unsatisfied with the status quo.
Strengths of the Attractional Church Model
Proponents of the attractional approach point to the following potential strengths:
- Reaches people unfamiliar or skeptical of Christianity by adapting to modern cultural sensibilities.
- Provides an easy first step for spiritual seekers to explore faith at their own pace by creating welcoming, engaging church experiences.
- Accommodates a diversity of peoples and perspectives through an accepting, “come as you are” climate.
- Encourages active participation in worship versus passive spectating.
- Delivers practical Biblical teaching focused on real-life application.
- Uses technology, creativity and cultural relevance to communicate timeless Biblical truth effectively.
- Responds to consumer orientation of society by delivering spiritual services people deem helpful and worthwhile.
- Provides attractive entry points, social connections and a clear path to guide seekers from curiosity to commitment.
Criticisms and Concerns of the Attractional Approach
Critics of attractional churches raise the following concerns:
- Overemphasis on appeals to consumerism versus spiritual formation.
- The staged conversion process can foster shallow or false faith.
- Adaptation to culture can lead to compromise on Biblical commands.
- Attractional events often provide spiritual highs but lack meaningful community and accountability.
- Believers do not grow deeper through regular worship services catered to unbelievers.
- Flashy productions distract from genuine encounters with God.
- Relevance to seekers can breed conformity to the world vs. countercultural witness.
- Fosters a selfish mindset of asking what God can do for me versus what I can do for God.
- A watered-down gospel may yield false converts.
Contrasts with Other Church Models
The attractional approach differs from other church models in the following ways:
Compared to the Traditional Church Model
- Emphasizes adapting to modern culture vs. preserving historic traditions and liturgies.
- Informal vs. formal worship styles and architecture.
- Practical topical sermons vs. expository, theological preaching.
- Contemporary music vs. traditional hymns.
- Multimedia productions vs. conventional worship elements like pulpit, choir, robes, etc.
- Come as you are ethos vs. expectation to dress and behave accordingly in God’s house.
Compared to the Missional Church Model
- Attracting outsiders vs. incarnational mission to outsiders.
- “Come and see” invitation vs. “go and be” sending.
- Church-centered evangelism vs. everyday-life evangelism.
- Targeting seekers vs. making disciples.
- Adapting to culture vs. transforming culture.
Compared to the Emerging Church Model
- Attractional events vs. decentralized organic communities.
- Consumer orientation vs. active participation and contribution focus.
- Staged spiritual journey vs. open-ended narrative process.
- Relevance to seekers vs. authenticity and embracing mystery.
- Pragmatic adaptation vs. countercultural reimagining of Christianity.
Key Scriptures Related to Attractional Church Model
Several Biblical passages connect to core principles of the attractional church model:
- 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 – Paul explains becoming “all things to all people” to win them to Christ, which relates to cultural adaptation within attractional churches.
- 1 Corinthians 14:23-25 – Paul discusses unbelievers coming to church, hearing the message, and getting convicted, which the attractional church facilitates.
- Titus 1:5 – Reference to setting things in order indicates organizing church gatherings and programming for maximum impact on unbelievers.
- Colossians 4:5-6 – Making the most of every evangelistic opportunity with grace and wit relates to designing attractional church experiences.
- Acts 17:22-34 – Paul’s outreach to Athenian philosophers models using cultural relevance to introduce faith.
Overall, proponents of the attractional approach look to Scripture’s examples of adapting methods, meeting felt needs, packaging truth attractively, facilitating a clear path to conversion and designing compelling encounters with the presence of God. They point as well to God’s own self-accommodation to humanity in the incarnation as the ultimate model for an attractional ethos. However, critics argue that many practices of attractional churches conflict with the countercultural ethic of Scripture and emphasis on deep discipleship versus decisions or crowd appeals.
Historical Background of the Attractional Church Movement
The attractional church model emerged within Evangelicalism as cultural upheaval shifted America from a churched to unchurched society in the late 20th century. Several factors contributed to this transition:
- Declining church attendance and religious affiliation.
- Increasing secularization of culture.
- Rise of entertainment, consumerism, and individualism.
- Erosion of denominational loyalty and traditional authorities.
- Resistance to organized religion among younger generations.
In response, church leaders like Bill Hybels and Rick Warren pioneered new outreach techniques based on marketing, relevance and consumer appeal. Willow Creek Community Church and Saddleback Church became prototypes of the attractional model throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The seeker-friendly movement spread through conferences, books, and emulation across American evangelicalism.
Critics charged attractional techniques produced shallow conversion. Alternative models like the emerging church and missional movements developed in the 2000s as a counterbalance. While differing today on theology and politics, most evangelical churches have integrated aspects of the attractional approach. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, has challenged attraction-focused congregations to adapt to new realities since 2020.
Variations Within Attractional Church Model
While sharing common philosophies, attractional churches exhibit diversity in specific implementation:
- Megachurches – Larger attractional congregations with thousands of members, elaborate productions, and extensive programs.
- Seeker-targeted services – Streamlined services with unchurched visitors as primary audience.
- Seeker-sensitive services – Modified conventional worship services mindful of unchurched sensitivities.
- Multi-venue churches – Offer distinct service environments tailored to different audiences.
- Online campuses – Webcast services created specifically to attract virtual visitors.
- Thematic programming – Offerings spotlighting particular interests, lifestyles, or cognitive styles.
- Hybrid models – Incorporate aspects of both attractional and missional philosophies. Emphasize outreach but primarily through attracting people to church events.
These variations exhibit the diversity of expression within the overarching attractional philosophy adapted across different church sizes, contexts and populations.
Key Figures in Development of Attractional Church Model
Several influential pastors and authors shaped the attractional church model:
- Bill Hybels – Pioneer of seeker-sensitive approaches and contemporary worship as founding pastor of Willow Creek Community Church.
- Rick Warren – Bestselling author of The Purpose Driven Church which influenced thousands to adopt attractional philosophies.
- Robert Schuller – Televangelist who pioneered seeker-friendly outreach through his Hour of Power program and Crystal Cathedral.
- Bill Dallas – Founder of the church leadership training organization Leadership Network which promoted attractional strategies.
- Lee Strobel – Author and apologist who embodied communicating to spiritual seekers through books like The Case for Christ.
- Reggie Joiner – Architect of attractional children’s and youth ministry as founder of the reThink Group.
- Andy Stanley – Megachurch pastor noted for creative application of attractional principles in communicating to skeptics and newcomers.
These and other prominent pastors pioneered and popularized strategies emulated widely across evangelical churches seeking greater cultural relevance and impact.
Attractional Church Model in Summary
The attractional church represents an adaptation of evangelistic outreach to secular modern culture. By emphasizing relevance over tradition, sensation over routine, consumer appeals over membership demands, and come-as-you-are acceptance over pressure, attractional congregations lower barriers for spiritual seekers. Programming targets felt needs and interests. Experiential services aim to encounters with transcendence. Clear strategic steps foster increasing commitment. Supporters believe these innovations allow Christianity to flourish within postmodern society. Critics argue that excessive cultural accommodation can lead to compromise and lack of depth. Ongoing debate continues around the attractional model’s theological merits and missional faithfulness. Nevertheless, the influence of church growth philosophies and seeker-sensitive strategies remains substantial within contemporary evangelicalism. The attractional approach’s success in expanding church rolls prompts both admiration and alarm. Understanding this model provides helpful insight into a widespread philosophy guiding much of Protestant church culture today.
