Urban Ministry - a research report

As regular readers of this blog know, we had a seminar this past Sabbath in the Hollywood Church entitled, Ministry to Metropolis. It was a wonderful day with beautiful weather, an unusually high attendance (much of it coincidental), an amazing fellowship dinner during which we ran out of tables for people to sit at, and a great seminar in the afternoon. Approximately 25 people stayed for the seminar. There was just enough information and a good interaction amongst the participants.

For more photos of the day, visit www.hollywoodsda.org. Below is my report on the afternoon seminar.

Monte began the seminar by presenting some of his latest research findings after interviewing nearly 1000 congregations in the "urban corridor" from Boston to Washington, D.C. Much of the research was conducted when I was a pastor in that corridor.

A couple of the most significant findings that Monte presented are related to church growth. The strongest "church activity" that correlates to church growth is (drum roll please...)

...community involvement. In close second is this diffuse and difficult to define term, "spirituality." The interview question that correlates to spirituality is: "My church helps me grow closer to God." So, the activities that most strongly correlate to church growth, says Monte, are significant community involvement and a focus on spiritual growth of members.

This really resonates for me. This is essentially the lifeblood of missional church and the Emergent conversation. Both of these have at their heart, following God in the way of Jesus (what Monte called spirituality) and participating with God's kingdom in the community. I think Diana Butler Bass found a very similar thing in her research, which she reports in a book entitled, Christianity for the Rest of Us.

The other interesting finding is this: public evangelism does not correlate to church growth. For some this may be old news, but for others, this comes as a shock. I first heard Monte report on this over two years ago, basically explaining that dying Adventist churches and growing Adventist churches both hold public evangelistic meetings in equal numbers, therefore there is no correlation to growth. Monte said something like, "It's become more like a ritual."

"Friendship Evangelism" still remains the #1 way people find their way to church life. While I have grown to really dislike the phrase "friendship evangelism," I basically understand this finding to mean that people connect to God through relationships (Duh!) and become connected to churches where those relationships are life giving and point them to a deeper relationship with God.

How is Hollywood doing? Well, we have dozens of connections to our community, but only a very small percentage of our members are connected to those activities (maybe 10%). We can't really say that the Hollywood Church is actively involved in the community until the MEMBERS are actively involved in the community.

Secondly, I think people do report that they attend Hollywood Church in part because they do find they are growing in their relationship with God. But we could do a lot more. There could be mid-week opportunities to explore different forms of prayer and worship, Bible study and community engagement.

In closing, I'll leave you with a few thoughts that I'll write more about soon.

I heard my friend and mentor, Jon Dybdahl say a long time ago, "Spirituality IS evangelism in this new world." I believe that Monte's research bears this out and I have experienced the truth of that statement. I would like to add this, however: "Social Justice ministry is evangelism." People are increasingly draw to communities of people who are working on behalf of their neighborhood, to bring the mercy and justice of God to bear upon their place.

Comments

[Siroj Sorajjakool]

These findings are amazing and I do seriously hope that leadership at the highest level will take them seriously. Whenever I hear about the millions that the church invested in public evangelism, I feel somewhat disappointed because the same amount could have offered much relief to so many people. Ryan, you church is doing so a wonderful work and you represent us well. Thank you.

[Johnny A. Ramirez]

Cool!

I stayed home to wait for the postman to deliver my passport. It arrived and I was glad but I missed Monte and that was sad.

My summer schedule is so unbelievably tight, and it keeps tightening, that while I'm sad I wasn't there in person, I'm glad to be able to read your reports via the web.

I am proud to have been a member of such a wonderful exciting congregation- blessings!

[Sherman Haywood Cox II]

I would be interested to find out information on the "seeker-sensitive" efforts and how they play out as far as church growth. Did Pastor Sahlin talk about that?

This is interesting that Social Justice and community involvement is a means to church growth.

[Sherman Haywood Cox II]

By the way...did you guys record it? Is it going on a podcast?

[Ryan Bell]

Unfortunately there was a mistake with the recording device and the sermon was not recorded. We didn't attempt to record the seminar because there was just too much conversation to capture it all. However, everything he shared here and a lot more will be addressed in his forthcoming book, Ministry in Metropolis.

We need a lot more of this kind of research on the West Coast. I'm hopeful that the Center for Creative Ministry might be hired to do that kind of work here in the Pacific Union, for example.

[Nathan Brown]

Perhaps not surprisingly, the significance of community involvement for church growth is not a new suggestion.
In the book he edited to mark the centenary of Seventh-day Adventists in New Zealand, sociologist Peter H Ballis comments upon the significance of involvement in real social and political issues in the founding and early dramatic growth of the church in New Zealand. He notes how “Adventists found themselves joining committees, speaking before audiences that under different circumstances would have been inaccessible to them, and, at times, co-operating with clergy of other denominations. All this has the effect of creating a favourable image of the Church. . . . Such interaction with the public served to acquaint Adventists with large numbers in the community” (“Seventh-day Adventists and New Zealand Politics, 1886-1918”).
Ballis cites membership figures that show a doubling in church membership in New Zealand during this period (1911-21). “It is tempting to conclude that it was the Church’s involvement in New Zealand’s social issues that brought about this unprecedented growth rate,” he concludes.

[MHB]

After reading this information, I summarized it for my Sabbath School class this morning. I then posed the question: Does what works in the big metropolis chuch in Hollywood, California also work in our smaller more rural New England community? Our church company is new--we've gone from a membership of 6 to a membership of 12 recently and a weekly attendance of more than that. Those in attendance today all felt that community involvement coupled with an emphasis of spirituality is what we are and should be doing. We certainly can't do it all on the same scale as the city churches but it is helpful and affirming to learn about research in this area...Thanks!

[Ryan Bell]

I'm glad you could share the info with your Sabbath School. If you want to go deeper, I would suggest Adventist Congregations Today, by Monte Sahlin, as well as his forthcoming book, Ministry to Metropolis, both available from the Center for Creative Ministry (www.creativeministry.org).

[Harold Cunningham]

Great post, Ryan.... and kudos to Monte.
Before the facts of statistical reseach were known, our gut instincts told many of us that evangelism which equates to mere desimination of information is not transformational ....or magnetic. Google + 2 clicks and anyone, anywhere, 24/7, has more info available about Christianity, Adventism, etc. than they could digest in a lifetime. Our gut instincts also told us that the derth of REAL COMMUNITY on our journey is starving us. There is no wholistic spirituality apart from REAL (vs virtual or pseudo)COMMUNITY with both God and fellow sojourners. Quantitative growth will follow the qualitative growth provided by authentic,loving, loyal COMMUNITY. People are willing to expend all their resources (including time and energy) in order to protect and provide for their tribe, their clan, their platoon, and .....their community per fellowship in the Body.