Beyond the Ordinary

Connecting New People to the Congregation

  By Deborah Bruce

In the typical congregation about one-third of worshipers are new people who began attending there in the past five years.  What do we know about new people?  Do they participate in congregational activities as much as worshipers who have been attending for six years or sixteen years or even longer?

New people are less connected to the congregation.  Worshipers who are new to the church are typically less involved in congregational programs and activities than worshipers who are long-term attendees:

• Fewer new people attend worship on a weekly basis. 
• Fewer new people are members of the church. 
• Fewer new people participate in small group activities (Sunday school, Bible study, prayer groups, or fellowship groups). 
• Fewer new people hold leadership positions in the church (assist in worship, sing in the choir, lead a small group, serve on the board or a committee of the church).
• Fewer new people financially support the church by contributing 5% or more of their income.
   
   

The personal spiritual lives of new people are similar to those of long-term attendees.  Despite the limited involvement of new people in congregational life, they have spiritual experiences that are similar to those of long-term attendees:

• Almost half in each group spend time in private devotions (Bible reading, personal prayer) every day.
• Nine in ten in each group say the worship services and other activities in their congregation help them with everyday living.
• Similar numbers in each group report their spiritual needs are being met in the congregation.
• Eight in ten in each group regularly experience God’s presence in the congregation’s worship services.

The challenge for congregations.  New people connect spiritually with God and with the congregation.  Yet their participation in congregational life lags.  The challenge for congregational leaders is to help those who are new to your congregation find ways to contribute to the life of the church and to become more involved. 

Research shows that in growing churches lots of people are involved in lots of ways in church life.  So helping new people increase their participation is important for those worshipers and for the congregation as a whole.

What does your congregation do to help integrate new worshipers into the life of your congregation?

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Related Resources:

50 Ways to Build Participation

How to Build Assimilation Bridges for New Members/Attendees

How to Transform Worship Visitors into Regular Attendees

Worshipers’ Values Make a Difference in Catholic Giving

By Cynthia Woolever

The largest single group of U.S. churches continues to be those affiliated with the Catholic Church, which reports over 68 million adherents in more than 19,000 parishes.  The sheer number of these parishes and their worshipers makes tracking their giving patterns worthwhile.

We continue to be interested in factors related to individual church donations. In an earlier post, we commented on our finding that the percentage of worshipers giving 10% of more of their income to the local church clearly distinguishes one church from another. 

In the typical parish, about one in ten Catholic worshipers report that they give 10% or more of their net income regularly to the local parish. (Note: this figure does not include contributions to the parish school.) The percentage of Catholic tithers (those who give at the 10% level) is significantly lower than the proportion of tithers in Protestant churches. Four out of ten conservative Protestant worshipers and two out of ten mainline Protestant worshipers report that they’re tithers.

Often our explorations consider the relationship between only two factors—for example, the relationship between average per-worshiper donations and faith group or denomination. But we know that understanding giving is more complex and requires examining multiple factors. We used a statistical method—regression analysis—to look at the relative impact of multiple dynamics on church giving. Regression analysis allows us to isolate the importance or relative strength of a single factor—like weekly worship attendance—while filtering out the impact of other things.

Based on our statistical analyses of giving patterns among Catholic parishes, we found that some factors were “accelerators”—churches with these characteristics had higher percentages of tithers. While our focus is on values, two other features of Catholic parishes remain important even when we control for worshipers’ values. 

The Accelerators in High-Percentage-Tithing Catholic Parishes

More weekly attendees. In parishes where a larger proportion of worshipers attend weekly or more often, the percentage of tithers is also higher. Previous research shows that individuals who participate more in church services and activities, also tend to be a regular financial contributors. At the parish level, increasing the engagement level of worshipers also increases the revenue generated by individual donations. Keep in mind that even when other seemingly important church factors are taken into account, this association remains.

More conservative worshipers. Parishes where a higher percentage of worshipers describe themselves as conservative on theological issues are also high-percentage-tithing parishes. A belief in the biblical mandate to tithe is one component of a more conservative theological tradition.

Worshipers value the parish’s outward focus. When many worshipers in the parish have an outward focus—seeking to meet the needs of individuals and the community—the percentage of tithers in the parish also climbs. We asked worshipers what they most valued about their parish. In churches where a high percentage of worshipers identified the community care or social justice emphasis of their parish, a higher proportion of worshipers tithed. Similarly, in parishes where more worshipers identified “reaching those who do not attend church” as something they valued about their church, the percentage of tithers was higher.

Many variables are linked to high percentage giving in Catholic parishes. Yet when all of those factors are taken into account, what worshipers value provides significant clues. In parishes where many worshipers care about others in the local community and value reaching out to individuals and families, people in the pew support their values with their money.

In future posts, we’ll explore the values of Protestant worshipers—both conservative and mainline. Do Protestant values also play a role in high-percentage giving? Yes! Stay tuned.  

Is the Bible the Literal Word of God?

By Deborah Bruce

Happy Birthday to the King James Version of the Bible!  How many candles on the cake?  Only 400!!  To mark the occasion, let’s look at how worshipers view the Bible. 

Faith group plays a role.  Worshipers in different denominations and faith groups view the Bible differently (see table below). 

Catholics.  Six in ten Catholics believe that the Bible is the word of God, to be interpreted in light of its historical context and the Church’s teachings.  The Catholic position holds that interpretation of the Bible rests with the Vatican.

Conservative Protestants. Many conservative Protestants believe that the Bible is the word of God, to be taken literally word for word.  This inerrant view holds that the Bible is free of errors and scientifically and historically true.  This belief is the bedrock of faith in many conservative denominations.

Mainline Protestants.  Worshipers in mainline Protestants pews have more mixed opinions.  Four in ten agree with the Catholic view that the Bible should be interpreted in light of its historical context and church teachings.  Another one-quarter of mainline Protestant worshipers believe the Bible should be interpreted in light of both its historical and cultural context—Who wrote the passage?  For whom was it intended?  What was happening at the time?  What social and political factors might have influenced the author?

 

What do you believe about the Bible?

Bible Study Resources

Engage Scripture (with Bible quiz)

Secrets to a Full Collection Plate (Part 2)

By Cynthia Woolever

We believe there is convincing evidence for congregations to conduct an effective annual stewardship campaign (see Secrets to a Full Collection Plate, Part 1). Now, we’re shifting our focus a bit—what does the average person in the pew say about his or her giving habits? About 65,000 worshipers in a national random sample of congregations—representative of all regions and faith traditions—gave us some surprising answers.

Secret # 2: Ask for Percentage Giving? We asked worshipers about their church financial contributions. Do they give a percentage of their income regularly, a small amount when they attend services, or nothing at all? In the typical congregation, one in four worshipers give 10% or more of their income to the church. This percentage is critical. A key factor that distinguishes congregations is the percentage of worshipers who give 10% or more of their income to the church.

Conservative Protestant churches tend to be smaller than others are, yet more of their worshipers make this powerful financial commitment—four out of ten worshipers in such churches regularly give 10% or more of their income. Far fewer give at that level in mainline Protestant and Catholic parishes. The largest group of mainline Protestant worshipers give between 5 and 9% of their income. Three in ten Catholic worshipers give less than 5% of their income (see the details in the table below).   

 
 Successful stewardship campaigns focus on the need for the giver to give rather than on the church’s budget gaps. An effective financial campaign asks every worshiper or household to grow in their annual donation by (a) giving a percentage of their income, and (b) growing their current gift by 1% in the coming year. (See Nelson Searcy and Jennifer Dykes Henson’s book, Maximize: How to Develop Extravagant Givers in Your Church, for many other helpful ideas (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2010).)

Many excellent resources are available online that suggest other effective stewardship strategies. For example, see the Lewis Center Leadership Center resource, “50 Ways to Improve Your Annual Stewardship Campaign.”

 And, another helpful resource is “Church Effectiveness Nuggets, Vol. 5: How to Increase Financial Stewardship.”

What’s the best advice? Encourage worshipers to grow spiritually and financially—one is impossible without the other.