Beyond the Ordinary

Switchers in the Pulpit and Pew

By Cynthia Woolever

One United Methodist pastor tells a church member who was formerly a Baptist, “It’s okay! I was raised a Baptist too!” How common is it for pastors to grow up in a different denomination or faith tradition than the church where they preach each Sunday? More common than you might think.

Protestant pastors are switchers. Almost all Catholic priests (96%) were raised as Catholics. However, the picture is quite different among Protestants:

• Conservative Protestant pastors: Less than half of conservative Protestant pastors (41%) were raised in the same denomination as their current one. One in four (26%) were raised in a conservative Protestant church other than the type where they currently serve. Finally, one in three conservative Protestant pastors (33%) actually switched their affiliation from another faith group (such as a mainline Protestant or Catholic).
• Mainline Protestant pastors: Slightly less than half (44%) of these pastors are currently serving in the same denomination as the one they were raised in. This means that 56% serve in a denomination that is different than their childhood background. One in four mainline Protestant pastors changed to their current denomination from a different faith group since their youth.

Some Presbyterian pastors have switched, too. The majority of Presbyterian pastors (57%) grew up Presbyterian, yet four in ten (43%) are switchers. Associate pastors were slightly more likely to grow up Presbyterian (63%). Fewer Presbyterian pastors than pastors in other mainline denominations have switched.

More second-career than first-career Presbyterian pastors have switched:

• First-career pastoral leaders: These pastors, who typically feel called to ministry in early adulthood, more often remain within the faith tradition in which they were raised. A majority of Presbyterian key leaders (either solo pastor or head of staff) (62%) had a childhood background in a Presbyterian church; first-career Presbyterian associate pastors (71%) were even more likely to have a same-denomination upbringing.
• Second-career pastoral leaders: More second-career than first-career pastoral leaders have switched. Half of the Presbyterian senior/solo pastors came to ministry from a different denomination. A roughly equal percentage (47%) of associate PC(USA) pastors entered ministry with a non-Presbyterian religious background.

 
Worshipers are switching too! We cannot directly compare worshipers’ switching patterns over their lifetime. However, we can look at new people who began attending a congregation in the previous five-year period. These statistics reflect recent switching behavior. Overall, about one in four new worshipers (22%) say they now attend a different “brand” of congregation than the one where they attended previously.[1]

• Again, Protestants are the big switchers—38% of these new worshipers say they switched from attending church in one denomination to attending services in a different denomination.
• Only a small percentage of Catholic worshipers (5%) are denominational switchers. 

Making a switching stew. Imagine a typical congregation where 22 percent of worshipers grew up in or transferred their membership from a church in another denomination. Now imagine that the pastor of this congregation also has a church background that differs from the congregation’s affiliation. This diversity makes quite a stew, flavored with spicy opinions! Switchers—both pastors and worshipers—bring numerous expectations to their new congregation. They might differ in their definitions of good leadership and effective ministry. Having arrived from different paths, they may want to go in several directions simultaneously. This significant trend makes church leadership more difficult than ever.  

 

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[1] New people are those attending the congregation for five years or less.

Financial Resources of Growing Presbyterian Churches: More or Less?

By Cynthia Woolever

On the surface, growing PC(USA) congregations have two things going for them. Growing churches:

• Are bigger than the typical Presbyterian church. The median size of the denomination’s fastest-growing churches is 150 (based on average worship attendance). That is twice the size of other Presbyterian churches—their median worship attendance is 78.
• Receive more in contributions and have larger budgets, which support more staff. Growing churches report median annual incomes (from all sources) of $336,668. That figure is about twice the size of the income reported by other Presbyterian churches—$165,875 annually.

Similarities: Income and Operating Expenses. However, looking beneath these differences reveals something else. Do worshipers in growing churches actually give more than typical Presbyterians? No. In fact, the contributions per person are similar in the two types of churches: worshipers give an annual average of $1,763 in growing churches; worshipers in other congregations give about the same amount—$1,807 a year.

Two other similarities between the two groups of churches have to do with their budgets. The percentage of congregational income that comes from worshipers’ donations (94% in growing churches vs. 88% in other churches) is almost identical. Likewise, the percentage of the congregation’s budget that goes to operating expenses (88% in growing churches vs. 86% in other churches) is very similar.

Differences: Increasing Finances and Stewardship Campaigns. More growing churches than other congregations report that they are in decent financial shape. Almost twice as many growing churches (29%) as other PC(USA) churches (only 15%) describe their congregation as having an increasing financial base. The largest share in both groups has a stable financial situation. In contrast, about one in ten growing churches say that their financial base is actually declining. But almost four times that many other Presbyterian churches (38%) state that this is their financial situation.

More growing Presbyterian churches (85%) than other PC(USA) congregations (74%) conduct an annual stewardship campaign. Does that make a difference in the overall giving? There is evidence that it does. In both groups of congregations, about half of the worshipers give 5% or more of their income to the congregation (54% for both groups). In larger congregations if more people give 5% or more, far more dollars flow into the overall budget.

Growing pains? More worshipers means more programs, more staff, and greater expenses. Numerical church growth sometimes races ahead of the congregation’s finances. Yet most of the fastest-growing Presbyterian churches appear to be handling the gap between more people and more financial demands.     

 

Different Music in Newer Presbyterian Churches?

By Cynthia Woolever

Presbyterians like many kinds of worship music, but traditional hymns sit at the top of their charts. The strength of that preference is somewhat different for worshipers in the typical PC(USA) congregation compared to worshipers in newer churches (those founded since 1990).

First choice: Traditional hymns. As the chart below illustrates, three out of four Presbyterians say they prefer traditional hymns. However, worshipers in new Presbyterian churches have slightly less enthusiasm for traditional hymns in worship. Still two out of three of these worshipers agree—they prefer traditional hymns.

Second choice: Praise music. What other types of music do worshipers say they personally prefer? Praise music comes in second as the music of choice. Almost four out of ten worshipers in new PC(USA) churches (37%) pick praise music or choruses as a clear preference in worship services. For the typical Presbyterian worshiper, praise music is a slightly less popular choice—only 28% responded with that preference.

Traditional or contemporary style of worship? Differences in worship style preferences show up again when we asked about the aspects of their congregation that they most value. Worshipers in new churches were more likely to say they value a contemporary style of worship or music (17% vs. 12% for Presbyterian worshipers in other congregations). In reverse fashion, worshipers in typical Presbyterian churches gave a stronger preference for a traditional style of worship or music (45% vs. 38% for worshipers in new PC(USA) churches).[i]

Why start new Presbyterian churches? An earlier post revealed that worshipers in new PC(USA) congregations as a group are more diverse in their racial-ethnic and birthplace backgrounds. The findings here show that new churches also more often attract worshipers who prefer greater diversity in worship style and music than worshipers in the typical Presbyterian congregation.

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[i] Worshipers were given a list of 14 dimensions of congregational life and asked to select the three that they most value. Thus, the chart figures will not add up to 100%. Only the percentage of worshipers selecting either traditional or contemporary styles of worship are compared.