Rick RICHARDSON. You Found Me. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2019. pp. 279. $24.00 hb. ISBN 978-0-8308-4154-7. Reviewed by Paul HUESING, C.S.P., The Paulist Fathers, 1225 20th Ave., Vero Beach, FL 32960.

Ten to fifteen years ago, when research reporting more and more Americans claiming no religious affiliation began to appear, many church leaders scrambled for answers.  Many felt a kind of despair about the growth of the “nones.” While the situation remains serious and the proportion of “nones” in the population has grown, there is also a literature of hope. You Found Me falls into this hope-filled category.The book has the subtitle “New Research on How Unchurched Nones, Millennials, and Irreligious Are Surprisingly Open to Christian Faith.” The subtitle captures the spirit of the book.

Part 1 of the book focuses on attitudes of the unchurched. Researchers at the Billy Graham Center Research Institute in conjunction with Lifeway Research, interviewed two thousand unchurched people regarding their feelings about religious faith and congregations. Their work reinforced the finding there are significant and growing numbers of religiously disaffiliated Americans. They also found that among those who were reared in a Christian context (Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant) large numbers have a positive attitude toward Christianity, envision themselves as returning to religious practice in the future, and/or would accept an invitation to attend a church service with a trusted friend.

Other studies by the Billy Graham Center, Lifeway, and the Casker Center for the Church provide the underpinnings for Parts 2 and 3 of the book. Here the author suggests ways in which “mission leaders” and “mission” can be formed to create a “Conversion Movement.” A central finding emphasizes that to be effective church communities reaching out to the disaffiliated must do so in a way that is non-judgmental but with hope (but no expectation) of their recommittal to practice.

The author is Director of the Billy Graham Center Institute and professor of evangelism and leadership at Wheaton College near Chicago. His book is clearly aimed primarily at an evangelical readership. However, Part 1 includes data on “Catholic nones.” Catholic church leaders and congregations also could learn much from Parts 2 and 3 even though the underlying research is based solely on evangelical denominations and congregations. It is worth noting that the author has some kind things to say about Catholics here and there in the book, especially about the effectiveness of the Catholic parish in the neighborhood in which he lives, Chicago’s South Loop.