The Center for Missional Research exists to help Christian leaders make strategic missional decisions by researching North American cultures, analyzing ministry effectiveness of churches, understanding communities where churches minister, and building connections among churches.
- The Knowing Church and Knowing Culture FACT FILE sections contain over 1000 PowerPoint® slides and other downloadable research reports.
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The Knowing Community section gives you a place where you can access tools to equip your local church with the following:
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Register as a church consultant to add your name to the list.
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The Missional Network is an online and relational community of ministry leaders connecting and sharing ideas, challenges, resources, and best practices to improve effectiveness in sharing Christ, sending missionaries and starting churches. -
Assess your church's potential with MAPchurch - a free resource provided by the North American Mission Board in partnership with the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. MAPchurch measures the perceptions that your church members have about their church.
Recent CMR Research
Summaries on a recent study of recent SBC Seminary Graduates
Church Planting Survivability and Health Study
We shared data with 11 denominations and networks to survey more than 2,000 new churches planted from 2000 to 2005. We were able to determine the status of 1,000 of them and phone interviewed 500 of them.
Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five (Full Report PDF)
Going Door-to-Door: A Look at the Numbers
Recently there has been a growing debate among those assembling for outreach as to how to approach their task.
Some want to share the gospel with every person they come in contact with—or they believe they're putting the person's eternal destiny at risk. Others suggest that the team should simply invite people to hear their biblically faithful, gospel-preaching pastor tell them about Jesus during his Sunday message.
Who's right?
We (the North American Mission Board's Center for Missional Research) decided to find out. By partnering with a polling firm to ask 1,200 random Americans we discovered that the answer just might be-"both."
Church Planting and SBC Seminaries
The North American Mission Board (NAMB) partners with the six Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) seminaries and one Canadian seminary to train church planters. The partnership was launched in 1998 and has been in place at all the seminaries since 2000. As part of the original covenant, the parties agreed to evaluate its impact. This article is based on the first of several research bulletins birthed from a study undertaken by the Center for Missional Research at the North American Mission Board.
Of the more than 2,000 seminary graduates responding from all SBC seminaries and the Canadian seminary, the study indicates a rapidly increasing interest in church planting.
The Rise of House Churches and Alternative Faith Communities
The "revolution" has recently become big news-many committed believers are rethinking (or leaving) the established church for alternative forms of church and/or community. The term, "revolution," popularized by George Barna in the book by the same name, describes many trends, but the main focus is on the move to non-traditional expressions of church.
Missional Moment: How the Unchurched View Southern Baptists
The Center for Missional Research studied the attitudes and perceptions of the unchurched regarding Southern Baptists. The results of this study provided insights into the mindset of those outside our churches. Based upon their attendance at a church—but not necessarily Southern Baptist—service within the past six months, respondents were asked their impression of Southern Baptists.
Disturbing Trends in Baptisms
From 2004 to 2005, every baptism category, by age, went down—except one. The one category that went up? Preschoolers—those under five years of age. That makes me nervous. Though I am not one to say that a five year old cannot trust Christ, it’s hard to see the march toward infant baptism as good news. Seeing these trends graphed out over time should cause us great concern.
The Center for Missional Research exists to help Christian leaders make strategic missional decisions by researching North American cultures, analyzing ministry effectiveness of churches, understanding communities where churches minister, and building connections among churches. Center for Missional Research Overview
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