Becoming Aware of Sunday Morning
Groundwork - WELCOMING THE VISITOR: A GUIDE FOR CONGREGATIONS by Suzy Miller
Quote from Susy Miller: “I do love movies. They give us such glimpses of our own behaviors, often with enough humor so we can take it all in.” The opening scene of Home Alone is one of those moments. Remember the scene? The entire family is quite busy getting ready for their activities and journey. A couple of strangers appear at the door. They look harmless. Actually, they look safe — and they look like they might know why they are there. The family is really, really busy and everyone assumes that everyone else is taking care of the strangers… well, you know the rest of the story. I think that Sunday morning just might be a bit like that for many of our “strangers.” We’re really busy, you know, rushing here and there, tossing information to one another, catching a running child, making sure everyone is ready. We often assume someone else is paying real attention to the visitor.
The first is about a young man who visited a church several Sundays in a row. He arrived early and chose a seat on the side, near a stained glass window, thinking he could look at the window if he got lost in the service...After several weeks of this, a woman approached him and told him she had observed him and asked him if he liked the service. He responded that he did, that he found it meaningful. “Good,” she replied. “Do you think you would like to join the church?” He replied that he would. “Wonderful,” she said. “But now you have to find your own seat; you’ve been sitting in mine!” |
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Congregational Characteristics of Growing Small Churches
A recent study of rapidly growing congregations with an average Sunday attendance of 70 or less identified key congregational charactoristics.
Specifically, the most rapidly growing small Episcopal congregations in the United States are places that:
- Report that they are spiritually vital and alive
- Have a clear sense of mission and purpose
- Have many members in the congregation who work for social justice
- Incalculate strong values and beliefs
- Focus on deepening members' relationship with God
- Keep the surrounding community well informed about activities taking place in the congregation
- Help members struggle with tough questions
- Are fun places to be.
What about your congregation? Where do you see these charactoristics in the community in which you serve, and in what ways can small congregations creatively strengthen these traits?
Let us share with and learn from one another to the end that our congregations are even better equipped to grow, strengthen and send forth servents of Christ.
Faithfully in Christ in whose name and mission we are all united.
Suzanne Watson
Is your small church growing? How do we measure growth? National officer Suzanne Richardson Watson notes what growing small church congregations should look like. Visit the new small church website for more:
http://smallepiscopalchurch.blogspot.com/
This small church website was begun in July, 2006. It is linked to websites of Congregational Development and the Episcopal Church
Worship, Websites, Conflict Affect Growth in Congregations
December 11, 2006 – Contemporary worship, geographic location, a website and the absence of conflict are key factors in why some congregations in America are growing, according to the latest national survey of U.S. faith communities.
The survey, sponsored by the Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership, found that wanting to grow is not enough. Congregations that grow must plan for growth: “Congregations that developed a plan to recruit members in the last year were much more likely to grow than congregations that had not.”
The survey findings are available in a newly released report, “FACTs on Growth.” The data was taken from the Faith Communities Today 2005 (FACT2005) survey of 884 randomly sampled congregations of all faith traditions in the United States. The survey updates results from a survey taken in 2000, and is the latest in CCSP’s series of trend-tracking national surveys of U.S. congregations.
David A. Roozen, Director of the Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership and Professor of Religion and Society at Hartford Seminary, said that, “If you are at all interested in research on ‘church’ growth, this brief report is must reading. It tests the continuing salience of long ‘taken for granted’ principles of growth (e.g., location, conservative theology) as well as the more recently proposed (e.g., contemporary worship, spiritual practices and purposefulness).”
“Perhaps most importantly, it suggests several newly emergent dynamics to consider (e.g., the potential for growth in downtown areas and within multi racial/ethnic congregations). It is a helpful and important follow-up to the “Pockets of Vitality” analysis of the ground breaking FACT2000 national survey,” Roozen said.
Among the findings in the new FACTs on Growth report:
The report was written by C. Kirk Hadaway, Director of Research at the Episcopal Church Center in New York.
- Congregations that change worship format and style are more likely to grow. More than half the congregations that use contemporary styles of worship have experienced substantial growth since 2000. Frequency is important as well: The more worship services a congregation holds, the more likely it is to have grown.
- Congregations located in new suburbs are more likely to experience growth. But surprisingly the second best area for growth is the downtown of metropolitan areas.
- Congregations that have experienced major conflict are quite likely to have declined in attendance. The strongest correlate of growth is the absence of serious conflict.
- Congregations that have started or maintained a website in the past year are most likely to grow. The effort to have a website indicates that the congregation is outward looking and willing to change by non-traditional means.
- While most congregations in America are composed of a single racial/ethnic group, those that are multi-racial are most likely to have experienced strong growth in worship attendance.
- More important than theological orientation is the religious character of the congregation and clarity of mission and purpose. Growing churches are clear about why they exist and about what they are to be doing – “purpose-driven growth.”
- Congregations that involve children in worship are more likely to experience significant growth. Also, important to growth is the ability of congregations to attract young adults and children with families.
- Almost all congregations say they want to grow, but it takes intentionality and action for growth to occur. Congregations that developed a plan to recruit members in the last year were more likely to grow than congregations that had not. Particularly helpful in achieving growth are sponsorship of a program or event to attract non-members or the existence of support groups.
