Of course, polls can only reveal so much, but Barna’s recent study on church attendance and avoidance really struck me as interesting and insightful. The Barna Group, which has been studying church participation patterns since 1984, is now claiming that the old terms “churched” and “unchurched” are no longer sufficient to describe church participation in America.

It used to be that if you attended a traditional, bricks-and-mortar church service, you were “churched.” If not, you were automatically classified as the naughty-sounding “unchurched.”

Continuing to describe the state of things this way would be unfair in light of the changing cultural and faith landscapes in America. What about those who participate in house churches, marketplace ministries or cyberchurches as their corporate faith engagement? It is true that these folks aren’t attending “church,” but is it really accurate to describe them as “unchurched,” with all that term’s negative connotations?

Barna doesn’t think so, and that’s why he has developed five new categories to try and help describe the situation more accurately.

First you have the “Unattached.” These folks haven’t attended a traditional church, a house church, or any other intentional community gathering in the last year. The “Unattached” make up 23 percent of American society.

Then there are the “Intermittents,” whom Barna describes as “under-churched.” These folks have participated in a conventional church or “organic faith community” in the last year, but not in the last month. This group makes up about 15 percent of America. I was one of these in college for a while.

The “Homebodies” are those who have attended a house church gathering in the past month. About 3 percent of those surveyed fell into this category.

The “Blenders” are an interesting bunch. They have attended both a house church and a traditional church during the past month (yet, Barna did not describe them as “over-churched”). “Blenders” represent 3 percent of the population.

And finally, we have the “Conventionals,” or adults who have attended a conventional church during the past month but have not attended a house church. Almost 56 percent of adults in America fit this description. I am now one of these.

Categories are useful for general descriptions. That being said, we “Conventionals” must be careful not to allow our church participation to alienate us from those in other categories—specifically the “Unattached” and “Intermittents.” Furthermore, we must not assume  the “Unattached” are the same as the “Unsaved.”

In fact, Barna reports that 59 percent of the “Unattached” consider themselves Christians, and 17 percent consider themselves born-again Christians. In this same group, 19 percent claim to have read the Bible and 62 percent pray to God during a typical week. Are we “Conventionals” sure the numbers are even that high in the lives of those in our churches?

A better approach would seem to be to learn about the “Unattached” and reflect on how those of us who benefit from participating in a church community could spread that joy and love to others not experiencing it.

Barna’s study also found that the “Unattached” are: more likely to feel stressed out, less likely to be concerned about the moral condition of the nation, less optimistic about the future, and much less likely to believe they are making a positive difference in the world.

In my own experience, church participation can make one feel less stressed, more morally aware, more optimistic about the future, and more likely to feel like a difference is being made.

I’ve learned over time that regular church participation is important for the maturation and development of Christians, given that they are welcomed and treated with love by those inside the church—even if their name doesn’t top the regular attendance list.