CONNECTING WITH SEEKERS IN YOUR COSPIRITUAL MMUNITY 42 of U.S. see %
kers are willing to visi
t a local United Metho
dist church
WHO ARE THESE SE
EKERS?
43% 39%
Male Female
44% 38% 34%
Married Never married All single
WHERE DO SEEKERS FIND NEWS?
44% 38%
have children under 18 no children under 18
47% 38% 34%
WHICH SOCIAL MEDI A PLATFORMS DO SEEKERS USE MOST ?
40% Fox News 37% CNN 34% ABC
84% Facebook 73% YouTube 58% Instagram
Urban Suburban Small town/ rural
South West Midwest Northeast
44% 41% 40
%
Black alone White alone Hispanic any
47%
College graduate High school or less 37% Some college
40%
WHAT IS MEANINGFUL TO SEEKERS?
of U.S. seekers are willing to visit a local UMC
50% daily/weekly prayer 48% quiet reflection 46% time in nature
SEEKERS AWARENESS “OPEN HEARTS. OPEN OF OUR TAGLINE, MINDS. OPEN DOORS.,” HAS GROWN
SEEKERS CHOOSE CONS IDER ATTENDING A CHRISTIAN CHURCH BECAUSE THEY WAN T:
Awareness of the tagline has grown over time, from 43% in 2017 to 52% in 2019
77% find it personally releva nt 89% found it appealing
49% 43% 35% 33%
42%
34% to develop spiritually 31% to reconnect with Christ ian roots 28% their children to learn
good values
SEEKERS CONSIDER
VISITING A SPECIFIC
47% it seemed like they wo uld fit in 46% they heard good things
CHURCH BECAUSE:
about it
SEEKERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO ATTEND A LOCAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH WHEN THEY : 70%
WHY DO SEEKERS CONTINUE TO ATTEND?
First impressions matter ! Seekers continue to attend a church becau se they feel:
58% accepted 52% welcomed during thei
r first visit
80%
are personally invited have heard the music
is good
United Methodist Communications offers tools and resources to help your church connect with spiritual seekers. Discover them at ResourceUMC.or g/UMCom.
The Barna Group fielded this biennial study August 30 through September 11, 2019, using an online panel. The data is nationally representative of 458 U.S. adults aged 25-49 screened to make sure they met the definition of a “spiritual seeker” by identifying with at least five of nine statements.
CONNECTION THROUGH UNDERSTANDING A new research study conducted in 2019 indicated that willingness to visit a United Methodist church rose to 42% among U.S. adult spiritual seekers who are aware of the denomination. That’s up from 28% in 2017. Overall, awareness of The United Methodist Church was widespread among respondents. Despite ongoing conflict within the denomination, favorability ratings among the seeker population remain stable. This research helps us better understand spiritual seekers and heavily influences our approach to advertising campaigns and resources for local churches, such as training courses, articles and other web content.
ResourceUMC.org/communications-research 7
