"Unchurched" (alternatively, "The Unchurched" or "unchurched people") means, in the broad sense, people who are

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

but not connected with a church. The term is not well-defined; different people understand it differently. In research on religious participation, it refers more specifically to people who do not attend worship services. In this sense it differs slightly from the term ' nones' which denotes an absence of affiliation with a religion and not an absence of attendance at religious services. The word will normally be used to describe a person who has come from a Christian background, but is no longer connected to a religious group. The Barna Group defines the term to mean "an adult (18 or older) who has not attended a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

church service within the past six months" excluding special services such as

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

wedding A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicity, ethnicities, Race (human categorization), races, religions, Religious denomination, denominations, Cou ...

s or

funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...

s. Edward L. Ericson, a former member of the Joint Washington Office for Social Concerns, defines "unchurched" as anyone who refuses to join a religious organization "out of principle". Throughout history the word "unchurched" was a derogatory reference to people lacking access to culture or education or referred to inappropriate, improper or impolite behavior. It is no longer used this way. It was estimated that there were 130 million "unchurched people" in the US in 2021.

References

{{Authority control Christian terminology

See also

References