I note that the editors of CT’s Leadership Journal now have a blog—Out of Ur, at which they’re discussing church leadership issues. Looks like an excellent new blog.

This post on re-introducing jaded people to the church caught my attention. It suggests that in our efforts to win over unchurched “seekers,” we might be overlooking the many people who’ve had some involvement in Christianity in the past, but who left at some point, disillusioned and/or unconvinced:

Certainly there are still some in our culture who are “church virgins,” but it seems increasingly more common to find people who have had some church experience or interaction with the Christian sub-culture that has left them jaded….

So, is it wise to continue wandering the countryside in search of the increasingly rare church virgin, or should we be finding strategies to reach the herds of church divorcés roaming our culture?

The post concludes with a tough series of questions for church leaders:

What about your church? Is your mission focused on the church virgins? Are you really just trying to reach people with no church experiences? Or do you desire to attract and heal the jaded and disenfranchised? Like me, are you someone who was jaded by the church and now leading one? How has that changed how you lead?

What’s your reaction to this? In your experience, is there a disconnect between outreach to unchurched seekers, and jaded “church divorcés”? How does your church approach this divide?