Editor's Note: The Rainer Scale identifies five "faith stages," or levels of responsiveness, among the unchurched: U1-highly receptive to hearing and believing the Good News. U2-receptive to the gospel and church; U3-neutral, with no clear signs of being interested yet perhaps open to discussion; U4-resistant to the gospel, but with no antagonistic attitude; and U5-highly antagonistic and even hostile to the gospel.

The number of unchurched who pray to God on a regular basis increases from 13 percent among the U5s to 46 percent among the U4s. The number would be significantly higher if we asked for those who pray at least occasionally. Simply stated, this resistant unchurched group sees value in prayer. …

A significant number of the U4s prayed to have something like a spiritual safety net. They do not know if anyone hears prayers, but they have little to lose by praying. Irene S. is an 80-year-old Canadian from Toronto who expressed those sentiments. "Yes, I pray to God every night and even during the day," she told us. "Now I don't know if there is a God up there or not, so I just figure he's up there watching over us. But I don't think anyone knows."

The point I am trying to make throughout this chapter on U4s is that this group of unchurched persons as a whole is not unspiritual and anti-God. To the contrary, the U4s tend to be very spiritual and very confused about their spirituality. While we recognize that they may not enter our church doors any time soon, we do have significant points of contact and commonality with the U4s. Our failure to reach out to them is inexcusable.

-- from Thom S. Rainer's book "The Unchurched Next Door"