Outreach approaches rural churches have tried recently
Percent of rural Protestant pastors saying their church tried each, 2025 (in percent)
Key finding
Highest: Members inviting people to church (92%). Lowest: Evangelism training (42%).
- Members inviting people to church: 92%
- Members sharing the gospel in conversations: 84%
- Food distribution, toy giveaways or helping in schools: 81%
Source: Lifeway Research, Rural Church Pastors Face Obstacles With Optimism · Phone survey of 1,003 Protestant pastors; 95% confidence, margin of error plus or minus 3.3%. Article published 2025-10-23.
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Questions about this statistic
What does this statistic show?
Highest: Members inviting people to church (92%). Lowest: Evangelism training (42%). Members inviting people to church: 92%. Members sharing the gospel in conversations: 84%. Food distribution, toy giveaways or helping in schools: 81%.
Who published this data?
Lifeway Research, 2025. Source: Lifeway Research, Rural Church Pastors Face Obstacles With Optimism (https://research.lifeway.com/2025/10/23/rural-church-pastors-face-obstacles-with-optimism/).
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More Outreach & Evangelism statistics
- Nones more willing to hear a Christian's faith if they don't claim all the answers Lifeway Research, 2026
- Nones who say they don't understand the language of most churches Lifeway Research, 2026
- Unaffiliated Americans on whether Christian language relates to what they care about Lifeway Research, 2026
- Christians who strongly agree they have a personal responsibility to share their faith Barna Group, 2025
- Churches not involved with area schools Lifeway Research, 2025
- Churchgoers eager to talk about Jesus with people unlike them Lifeway Research, 2025
About this data
Leader Insights collects statistics about U.S. churches from published research by organizations such as Lifeway Research, Barna Group, Springtide, the American Bible Society and PRRI. Every number is checked against the wording of the original source before it is published, and each statistic links back to the study it came from. Figures are reproduced from the publishers named above; see the source for full methodology.