Statistics
In the Name of God
Churches Ineffective
Love’s Power
People Will Stay if …
America’s Faith
Group Survey
Like Ripe Blackberries
Dead or Alive
Topic : Church Growth
New in Town
The first time I worshipped at their church
About two months ago
I signed the registration card
So all of them would know
That I had just moved into town
And needed a little part
Of the loving concern for each other
That a Christian has in his heart.
I checked the proper boxes
To indicate my age
My marital condition
My sex, my spiritual stage.
No one smiled or shook my hand
When the services were through
And Satan whispered in my ear
“See, no one noticed you.”
But I stayed home each night that week
In hopes someone would call
It didn’t have to be the Preacher
Just any one at all
Who cared enough to take the time
In our dear Saviour’s Name
To bid a stranger welcome...
But no one ever came.
And then a thought came to my mind
That I’d like to share with you
Why should I sit and wait for others
To do what I could do'
So, I joined that church and here I am...
Tonight is “visitation.”
We’re glad you came, We hope you’ll stay
And join our congregation.
Ruth Gruennert
Statistics
- 65% of American churches are declining in attendance
- 33% of all traditional churches plateau at 50 members
- Another 33% of all churches plateau at 150 members
- It takes the average evangelical church 100 people and one year to introduce one person to Jesus Christ.
In the Name of God
ABC presented “In the Name of God” on March 16, 1995. Peter Jennings analyzed some of the growing churches/movements in the U.S., and concluded with this question, “As these churches try to attract sell-out crowds, are they in danger of selling out the gospel?”
Community Survey Questions:
1. Are you an active member of a nearby church'
2. What do you think is the greatest need in this community'
3. Why do you think most people don’t attend church'
4. If you were looking for a church in the area, what kinds of things would you look for'
5. What advice would you give me as the pastor of a new church'
6. Are you interested in getting more information about this new church'
Surveys show that as much as 85 percent of church membership growth is made up of people who church-hop. Other surveys show that there has been no real growth in church membership in recent years; increase in some denominations is simply offset by decrease in others.*
*Gallup says 81 percent of those who have changed are Protestant, and one out of four have changed faiths or denominations (23 percent). He writes: “A superficial view of the statistics on religious life in America would suggest that there is little change over the decades” (this, in spite of what he calls “constant denominational shifting”)
Churches Ineffective
“Pollster George H. Gallup, Jr. says 70 percent of Americans believe most churches and synagogues are not effective in helping people find meaning in life.”
He said the ongoing vitality of American religious congregations depends, in large measure, on their effectiveness in resounding to six spiritual needs of Americans as identified in his surveys.
Consider the six needs he discovered in his survey:
1. To believe life is meaningful and has a purpose.
2. To have sense of community and deeper relationships.
3. To be appreciated and respected.
4. To be listened to—and heard.
5. To feel that one is growing in the faith.
6. To have practical help in developing a mature faith.
This is a powerful indictment of the tepid, culture-
soaked style of church life in our generation. It is astonishing
to discover that 70 percent of Americans are now disillusioned
with the traditional church! I have been following this Gallup
survey for years, and the trend of American cynicism grows with
each passing year.
(Gallup’s report is in the 1992 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, Abingdon Press.)
Love’s Power
Show me a church where there is love, and I will show you a church that is a power in the community. In Chicago a few years ago a little boy attended a Sunday school I know of. When his parents moved to another part of the city the little fellow still attended the same Sunday school, although it meant a long, tiresome walk each way. A friend asked him why he went so far, and told him that there were plenty of others just as good nearer his home.
“They may be as good for others, but not for me,” was his reply.
“Why not?” she asked.
“Because they love a fellow over there,” he replied.
If only we could make the world believe that we loved them there would be fewer empty churches, and a smaller proportion of our population who never darken a church door. Let love replace duty in our church relations, and the world will soon be evangelized.
People Will Stay if …
90% of new members will stay in the church if:
(1) They can articulate their faith (implies need for membership and evangelism classes).
(2) They belong to subgroups (i.e. choir, Bible Studies, Sunday School classes, etc.).
(3) They have 4-8 close friendships within the church.
America’s Faith
Things churches can do to build greater interest in religion, according to a Gallup survey: improve communication with members (21% of respondents); concentrate more on personal spiritual matters (19%); become more involved in community matters (18%); focus more efforts on young people (14%). Other suggestions include more social activities for church members, more personal contacts between clergy and families, including pastoral visits, less emphasis on money, advertise more, strive for unity, and stay out of politics.
The survey was made for the book, “The People’s Religion: American Faith in the ‘90s,” a Gallup compilation of more than 50 years of public opinion polls.
Figures in the book show a consistency over the years: about 94 percent believe in God, 90 percent pray, 88 percent believe God loves them, and more than 75 percent say their religious involvement has been a positive experience.
Co-author Jim Castelli says he was surprised at the steadiness of the figures. “The percentage who went to church in the last week is the same today (42%) as it was in the ‘30s,” he said.After surveying 10,000 people, the Institute for American Church Growth concluded that 79 percent began attending church after receiving such an invitation. Only 6% were attracted by the pastor, 5% by the Sunday school and 0.5% by an evangelistic crusade.
Group Survey
A 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 church’s 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, Group’s research concluded, is the church’s ministry to youth. The number-one consideration is preaching.
Like Ripe Blackberries
Like picking ripe blackberries. During the summer of 1983 the blackberries on Whidbey island were thicker than ever before. It was an outstanding year, with gallons and gallons of ripe blackberries waiting to be picked. Conclusions:
(1) go where the berries are ripe;
(2) pick fast and furiously;
(3) don’t expend too much time where picking is slim;
(4) unpicked berries rot and fall;
(5) thorns can impede picking.
Dead or Alive
- Live churches’ expenses are always more than their income; dead churches don’t need much money!
- Live churches have parking problems; Dead churches have empty spaces!
- Live churches may have some noisy children; Dead churches are quiet as a cemetery.
- Live churches keep changing their ways of doing things; Dead churches see no need for change!
- Live churches grow so fast you can’t keep up with people’s names; In dead churches everybody always knows everybody’s name.
- Live churches strongly support world missions; Dead churches keep the money at home!
- Live churches are full of regular, cheerful givers; Dead churches are full of grudging tippers!
- Live churches move ahead on prayer and faith; Dead churches work only on sight!
- Live churches plant daughter churches; Dead churches fear spending the money, time, and talent!
- Live churches outgrow their Sunday School facilities; Dead churches have room to spare!
- Live churches welcome all classes of people; Dead churches stick to their own kind!
- Live churches’ members read their Bibles and bring them to church; Dead churches’ members seldom do!
- Live churches’ members enthusiastically support the ministries; Dead churches have no ministries—only functions!
- Live churches’ members look for someone they can help; Dead churches’ members look for something to complain about!
- Live churches’ members reach out to share their faith in Christ; Dead churches’ members don’t have enough to share!
