Jesus explicitly named his evangelistic target: “the lost sheep of Israel” (Matt. 15:24, 10:5–6). Paul and Peter divided mission territory by people group (Gal. 2:7). The four gospel writers each wrote to a distinct audience. Targeting is not a modern marketing import — it is the apostolic pattern.
Warren calls the opposite “Charlie Brown archery” — shoot the arrow, then draw the bull’s-eye wherever it lands. That’s not strategy; it’s post-hoc rationalization. It produces effort without effectiveness.
Evangelistic targeting means defining your audience across four dimensions: geographic (who lives within driving distance), demographic (age, marital status, income, education, occupation), cultural (psychographics: values, fears, interests, lifestyle), and spiritual (what people already believe about God). Of these, cultural understanding is the most important and the least substitutable — no census report replaces direct conversation.
For MNFC, the Unificationist context adds a layer: we have both a defined theological identity and a diverse local community. Targeting doesn’t mean excluding anyone — it means being strategic rather than random about where we direct finite energy. Who are the “lost sheep” of our specific Minnesota context? Answering that question is theological work.
The test: can MNFC say, in one or two sentences, who specifically it is trying to reach this year? If not, targeting isn’t happening — and growth will remain accidental.