Although Christians are first responsible to Christ's call to share the gospel, often a question of concern for many workers on the field is how the American public may perceive their ministry when tangible assistance is mixed with evangelism. In our September 2006 poll, a surprising majority of Americans (72%) believe it is appropriate for faith-based disaster relief workers to share their faith as part of their ministry to disaster victims. Even when separating out those who had not attended a Christian church service in the past six months, 66 percent of non-church goers still believed this to be appropriate. These encouraging numbers should remove any concern of disaster relief works in sharing the awesome love of Jesus in word as well as in action.

Southern Baptist seminary graduates feel well prepared for evangelism—right up there with biblical studies and theology.

The vast majority (88%) felt adequately prepared for evangelism upon graduation from seminary. Evangelism slightly trailed Biblical studies and was tied with systematic theology in the self perceived level of preparation. Almost all respondents (98% and 96%, respectively) agreed that "prayer is foundational to effective evangelism" and that "every Christian is called to share Christ with every person they can." Also, 7 of 8 expressed agreement with "non-Christians usually will not come to us to find God."

Many of you have heard by now that Ed Stetzer has accepted a position at LifeWay Christian Resources as director of LifeWay Research beginning June 1, 2007. Ed has made an immeasurable contribution to the North American Mission Board both in his role as senior director of the Center for Missional Research and formerly in the Church Planting Group.

For the past 25 years prevailing church growth wisdom has suggested that you can't grow a church without a building. During that time churches have popped up in all kinds of locations, such as movie theaters, schools, restaurants, homes—even drive-in theaters. Most figured if they wanted to reach the unchurched, they had to do it on neutral territory.

Prevailing wisdom began to change in recent years, though. Many new leaders have suggested that the completely unchurched, particularly in urban America, often have no recollections—negative or positive— with traditional church buildings. Three out of every four Americans say the issue doesn't impact their decision about attending or joining a church. In fact, every demographic group we studied had at least 60 percent of its respondents say it was inconsequential.

Buildings, baptisms, and budgets-the benchmarks most people use to evaluate church health. But are these the best measures? There are many who question which is most appropriate, but we wanted to see church plants that are reaching the lost through conversions. In most cases for denominations in our study, that was measured in baptisms.
                      
Among the factors associated with higher than average baptisms are evangelistic emphases, effective ministries, and expanding leadership.

Why do some church plants experience higher attendance while others struggle to attract people? Are there commonalities among those with higher than average attendance that can be replicated in different settings? A recent study by the Center for Missional Research of twelve denominations or networks provides the answer as a resounding "yes."

Many of the churches did the same things—"shared Christ," had worship services; but when more than 100 factors were analyzed, the following ten categories proved to be the best predictors for higher worship attendance when compared to church plants at or below the average church plant attendance.

We found that realistic expectations were a significant determining factor of success. When the church planter's expectations meet the reality of the church planting experience, the chance of survivability increases by over 400 percent. Of those who said their expectations were realized, 87 percent of their churches survived compared to only 61 percent of church plants survived among those who did not have their expectations met. It is evident that a realistic picture of the joys and difficulties surrounding church planting is beneficial for both the church plant and the church planter.

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.

CMR 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. We found that the survivability rate of the church plants in our study was 68 percent after four years—and this was similar in all denominations. 

If, for the church planter, the expectations of the church plant meet the reality of the church planting experience, the chance of survivability increases by over 400 percent. For example, for those planters who said their expectations were realized, 54 percent of their churches survived. For church plants that failed, 79 percent of church planters stated that their prior expectations of the church plant did not meet reality.

When you knock on a stranger's door, more people are open to a church invitation than a gospel presentation—but a significant minority are open to both. According to the survey, Americans are far more open to people coming to their door with that simple invitation than trying to tell them how to get into heaven (53 to 35%).

The only exception to this trend is among African Americans, nearly half of whom are okay with someone coming to their door with an evangelistic message—15 percent more than any other ethnic group surveyed.

CMR 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. We found that the survivability rate of the church plants in our study was 68 percent after four years—and this was similar in all denominations. 

If, for the church planter, the expectations of the church plant meet the reality of the church planting experience, the chance of survivability increases by over 400 percent. For example, for those planters who said their expectations were realized, 54 percent of their churches survived. For church plants that failed, 79 percent of church planters stated that their prior expectations of the church plant did not meet reality.

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 (marketplace faith communities, house churches, arts, etc.).
• Rabbi Gellman (who has some positive things to say about evangelicals in general), wrote about the move away from traditional, organized church in Newsweek as one of the top religious trends for 2006. (His excellent article is here.) Though this trend has not yet been noticed by many in the evangelical church, it is growing in prominence and reputation.

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.

Total annual baptisms by churches also show alarming trends:

• In 2005, 11,740 churches reported zero or one baptism, up from 11,122 in 2004. This is an increase of 5.6 percent.
• Over 55 percent of churches baptized no youth (12-17 year-olds) in 2005, up from 52 percent the previous year.
• The number of churches baptizing ten or more declined to 10,062 in 2005, down from 10,598 in 2004.

The news is out! According to the most recent census information released on August 15, the face of the United States is changing. CNN's headline for the U.S. proclaimed, "Explosion of diversity sweeps U.S." The New York Times, referring to New York City said, "Immigrant Numbers Swell New York." The Atlanta-Journal Constitution wrote of a local county, "Immigrants Transform Gwinnett." These recent stories reflect the missional opportunities that exist among this ever-expanding population within our country.

How are Southern Baptists doing in reaching North American immigrants for Christ? We have been trying to answer this question at the Center for Missional Research at the North American Mission Board. Our full study is available at www.namb.net/research.

How Are Southern Baptists Perceived
This summer, the Center for Missional Research partnered with Zogby International to conduct a poll of 1,210 adults. Respondents were asked if their impression of Southern Baptists is very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable, or very unfavorable. Some respondents said they were not familiar with Southern Baptists and others were not sure of their impressions.

Overall, Southern Baptists were viewed favorably (combining very and somewhat favorable) by 57 percent of adults interviewed. Unfavorable impressions were reported by 17 percent, and 24 percent were not familiar with Southern Baptists. The following chart shows how Southern Baptists compare with other denominations or faith groups. Southern Baptists, Catholics, and Methodists don't differ greatly--they have a generally good public perception. Muslims and Mormons are similar in that they do not have a good perception.

How Are Southern Baptists Perceived
This summer, the Center for Missional Research partnered with Zogby International to conduct a poll of 1,210 adults. Respondents were asked if their impression of Southern Baptists is very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable, or very unfavorable. Some respondents said they were not familiar with Southern Baptists and others were not sure of their impressions.

Overall, Southern Baptists were viewed favorably (combining very and somewhat favorable) by 57 percent of adults interviewed. Unfavorable impressions were reported by 17 percent, and 24 percent were not familiar with Southern Baptists. The following chart shows how Southern Baptists compare with other denominations or faith groups. Southern Baptists, Catholics, and Methodists don't differ greatly--they have a generally good public perception. Muslims and Mormons are similar in that they do not have a good perception.

Southern Seminary Dean Tapped To Help Launch, Lead LifeWay Research
NASHVILLE, Tenn., 5/12/06 -- Thom S. Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources, today announced that Brad J. Waggoner, dean of the School of Leadership & Church Ministry at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., will lead LifeWay Research, an initiative Rainer unveiled when he took office earlier this year.

We do come closer to having an idea of what should be, but we don't know how to close the gap. LifeWay Research will help churches, Christians, culture and the unchurched clearly identify their respective realities. Additionally, LifeWay Research will propose ways to close the gap so that what should be becomes the new "what is."

Linking to the Center for Missional Research website is easy.  You can either add an RSS feed of our most recent updatesor simply add the link to our home page, www.missionalresearch.info. 

Here are some examples of how others are linking to us:

• State Conventions & Local Associations Resourcing the Local Church
  • Arkansas Baptist Convention - Community Studies
  • Georgia Baptists - Research Services
  • Missouri Baptist Convention - Demographics Resources
  • Saturate Colorado: the online community for colorado baptists
  • Union Baptist Association of Houston - Research Links
    
• Papers reporting on CMR research
  • Alabama Baptists, Online News Briefs
  • Kentucky Baptists, Western Recorder
    
• Other websites, news articles
  • Baptist Press News article
  • Pastors.com: Rick Warren's Ministry Toolbox
  • Zondervan, Church Leader Briefing
  • Christianity Today: Evangelism and Outreach

The Center for Missional Research released an updated demographic report and online request and delivery system at the SBC Annual meeting earlier this summer. NAMB has offered free demographic reports to churches and SBC entities for many years, but has now added thematic maps and interpretive assistance to the tabular data available in the past. You can request your report by clicking here.  To read more about this topic, click here.