Why Church Is Unmissable

Richard Sweatman and Antony Barraclough, Unmissable Church: Why You Need Church and Church Needs You. Matthias Media, 2023. 218 pages.

“Going to church is not easy” (3).

Evangelicalism is facing an attendance crisis. Religious participation in the Western world is plummeting. According to a recent study from Australia, “Only one in three Australians who identify as ‘Christian’ attend church at least once per month” (4). This seismic shift has inspired a myriad of diagnoses and solutions, with varying degrees of accuracy and effectiveness.

Enter Richard Sweatman and Antony Barraclough’s book Unmissable Church.

Why Attendance Isn’t Easy

People may point to busyness or religious hypocrisy as reasons not to attend church, but Sweatman and Barraclough expose a deeper cause—individualism. Their research was “able to correlate those who attended church less often with those holding a stronger sense of individualism or making choices to suit ‘the self’” (19).

The solution? Understand that the church is unmissable. Sweatman and Barraclough seek to establish an understanding of what the church is, review common objections to church attendance, and encourage Christians to attend church again.

Unmissable Church is laced with Sweatman and Barraclough’s love for the church and its members. Their pastoral precision is personal and practical. Defusing legalistic guilt trips, they make clear that church attendance is evidence of faith, not a prerequisite to it. At the same time, they don’t let disobedient Christians off the hook. They make abundantly clear that “consistent church attendance is one huge fruit of faith” (87).

Weary Christians can take heart at reminders that “you might not be the most popular or relationally gifted person at church, but you still have a vital place” (114). Sweatman and Barraclough aren’t drill sergeants, they’re encouragers.

Why Church Is Unmissable

Unmissable Church nails the personal component. Yet I wish it added more about what makes the local church distinct from other forms of Christian fellowship. Sweatman and Barraclough rightly assert that attending a small group is no replacement for the church. They argue that there are “many more theological and practical positives of seeing the large public gathering as your church,” like the “immensely transformative” effect of sitting under faithful preaching, meeting “new people who could be a blessing in my life,” and being “more aware of what is happening around church” (61). Amen!

Coming to church has immense benefits, and I certainly think considering them is a first step for many to attend church again. And yet we want Christians to do more than come to church. We want them to join a church. Being a church member is an essential part of who a faithful Christian is. The local church is unmissable because Christ has given unique authority not to its attenders, but its members. It is the church who proclaims the true gospel and recognize true gospel confessors through baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Taking the Next Step

Given that caveat, I think the book does a wonderful job at bringing the reader up to the precipice of church membership. Before we can get someone to join a church, they must be willing to step foot into one.

Sweatman and Barraclough spotlight the church’s beauty by looking at its different images throughout Scripture (body, temple, flock, etc.). Tangible examples of the church’s inner life are provided. Objections are met with compassion and conviction.

Every Christian would benefit from hearing, “Every Sunday your church needs you. It probably doesn’t need you to preach. It may not need you to be in the band or to fill some other up-front role. But your church needs you to be you. It needs you to serve God’s people through the gifts that he gives” (166).

Conclusion

Unmissable Church effectively argues that church attendance is beneficial, even mandatory. I’d recommend a Christian read Unmissable Church alongside Rediscover Church by Collin Hansen and Jonathan Leeman. By learning what the church does that’s unique to what an individual Christian can do, readers will be equipped to join the church’s essential work.

After all, displaying God’s glory to a dark and dying world is something you won’t want to miss.