Journal: Journal of Ministry and Theology
Volume: JMAT 07:2 (Fall 2003)
Article: The Over-Churched: Preaching to People Who Have “Heard it all Before”
Author: J. Brian Tucker

JMAT 7:2 (Fall 03) p. 69

The Over-Churched:
Preaching to People Who Have “Heard it all Before”

J. Brian Tucker

Instructor of Theology and NT Greek
Michigan Theological Seminary, Plymouth, Michigan

There they sit, enduring another mundane sermon as they glance at one another; they knowingly nod and say, “We’ve heard this one before.” The nod occurs far too many times in American evangelical churches today, but what is a time-pressed, overworked, and under-compensated pastor to do? Can a pastor preach a message that will have an impact on people who feel “they have heard it all before”? This article examines the cultural context of over-churched people. It highlights selected characteristics, generational differences, and diversity within the group and concludes by looking at the impact of postmodernism on the lifestyle of many within the group.

Around 30% of the attendees in established churches may be classified as over-churched. The over-churched are defined as people who are inoculated from postmodernism and steeped in the Christian subculture as characterized by interpersonal conflicts, a bent towards legalism, a misunderstanding of separation from the world, an overcommitment to institutionalism, and a fundamental misapprehension of ministry. These individuals offer great potential for vital church ministry and may serve as a model for reaching other groups of people.

Nature of the Over-churched

Over-Churched Worldview

The worldview of an over-churched person includes a tenacious optimism.1 This may sound counterintuitive

JMAT 7:2 (Fall 03) p. 70

because some believe that over-churched people are the loudest complainers in most churches. The reason that they complain so vigorously is that they are convinced that things can be better even if there is disagreement as to what that means. This perspective is actually a holdover from a modernist mindset which held that people could solve basically any problem through their own ingenuity. This optimistic mindset is usually obscured by the animosity which fuels conflicts in the local church. The reality is that an over-churched person may not understand why the pastor does not see things the way the over-churched person does. There is a certain level of naiveté in such a thought; it appears, however, to influence a significant number of over-churched people.

What is the basis for this optimism? Most over-churched people have seen both great successes and dismal failures within the church. Many within this category were part of innovative ideas that made the gospel accessible to many who had previously resisted the message. The problem is th...