Seeking the Seekers: Serving the Hidden Spiritual Quest

A.J. Pell is rector of Christ Church in Hope, B.C., and a lecturer in
the Anglican Studies Programme at Regent College in Vancouver.

At the heart of this book are two research projects, both of which use
focus groups in which the participants are invited to respond personally
and individually to questions, ideas, and images rather than to discuss
or argue with other participants to arrive at a group consensus. The
projects and the book are by, and for, the “historic-cultural churches
... distinguished by their deep historical roots, reaching back at least
to the Reformation.” In this book, the church is Anglican, but it
could easily be Lutheran, Presbyterian, or Roman Catholic.

The first project, “Old Churches, New Christians,” focuses on new
members who have come from a nonchurch background; here the concern is
identifying the events that led the new members to choose to become part
of the congregation. “The Discovery Project,” the second history,
focuses on the experiences and spirituality of nonmembers. In each case,
the operation of the project is described and representative responses
are provided.

The authors are quite strong in their assertion that there are great
and insurmountable differences between historic-cultural churches and
others they label as “conservative evangelical,”
“pentecostal-charismatic,” and “mega-churches.” Church growth
books and workshops are for these three styles of churches, but not for
historic-cultural churches. Yet their lessons and conclusions show
little difference from the late 20th-century church growth movement
practitioners. Thus, they tell us that “young adults seeks a
connection with a faith community as a result of profound personal
change” and that “serving not ... recruiting” and making “a
place of spiritual seekers” are appropriate strategies. Perhaps the
only real difference with conventional church growth wisdom is that old
buildings and more traditional forms of worship are not the barriers
most churches have believed them to be. Putting all this together, as
MacLean and Thompson do, may cause many historic-cultural churches to
take heart and get on with the Gospel task of being witnesses to Christ.