Group Survey
Topic : Church GrowthA survey conducted by Group, the Loveland Colorado-based youth-publishing ministry, suggests that ministry to youth is a greater contributing factor to church growth than in generally acknowledged among church-growth experts. Eighty percent of the families surveyed for the report Youth Ministry: Its Impact on Church Growth, according to Group, said their churchs youth ministry was an important consideration in their decision to join. A Group press release notes that, according to the American Institute for Church Growth, over 75 percent of lay people say they visit a church because of a friend or a relative. But the number-two reason families join a church, Groups research concluded, is the churchs ministry to youth. The number-one consideration is preaching.