Four out of ten pastors lack strong interest in increasing community outreach
(Original release date: January 3, 2007) Research results being released for the first time in the January/February edition of Facts & Trends magazine show just how involved U.S. Protestant churches are in evangelism and community outreach, as well as what obstacles hold them back from being even more involved.
Facts & Trends is published bimonthly by LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.
The findings are from a study conducted for Facts & Trends by Ellison Research (Phoenix, Ariz.) among a representative sample of 811 Protestant church ministers nationwide.
Senior ministers were asked about the activities their church has held over the past year specifically for the purpose of evangelism, as well as what types of community outreach and programs the church has offered.
The methods churches are using for evangelism are quite varied. The most common is Vacation Bible School, or VBS, which has been used by seven out of 10 churches for evangelism in the last year. At least half have used literature such as tracts or magazines (59 percent), events such as block parties or a Fall Festival (56 percent), musical events or concerts (51 percent), mailings or fliers (50 percent), and nursing home or retirement center visits (49 percent) specifically for the purposes of evangelism.
Other relatively popular evangelistic efforts include “invite a friend to church” days (42 percent), revivals or crusades (40 percent), evangelism training classes or groups (38 percent), door-to-door visitation within the community (37 percent), community service such as cleanup days (31 percent), online efforts such as blogs or web sites (27 percent), audio or visual products such as tapes or DVDs (26 percent), and booths at community events such as the county fair (20 percent).
Ninety-seven percent of all churches report doing something specifically for the purposes of evangelism over the last year.
Just what churches are doing to evangelize their communities differs quite a bit by denominational group. Southern Baptist churches are particularly big on using revivals or crusades, literature, evangelism training classes or groups, and door-to-door visitation, but are less likely than average to use any sort of online evangelism. Other Baptist groups (National, Progressive, General, etc.) are fairly close to average, but are a bit more likely than others to use literature and door-to-door visitation.
Methodist churches are more likely than average to use events, but less likely to use literature, door-to-door visitation, and revivals or crusades. Lutherans are particularly likely to rely on Vacation Bible School, online methods, and mailings or fliers, and less likely to use revivals or crusades, musical events or concerts, or audio/visual methods. Pentecostal churches are particularly likely to employ musical events or concerts, revivals or crusades, “invite a friend to church” days, and audio/visual products, but less likely than average to use Vacation Bible School for evangelism. Presbyterians are especially unlikely to use literature, revivals or crusades, door-to-door visitation, or audio/visual products.
In general, evangelical churches use a greater variety of evangelistic tools than do mainline Protestant churches. Evangelical churches are considerably more likely to attempt evangelism through literature, revivals or crusades, evangelism training classes or groups, door-to-door visitation, and audio/visual products, while mainline churches have only a greater propensity for doing community service as a form of evangelism.
The survey also explored the kinds of community outreach or programs offered by churches. Pastors were allowed to define their church’s involvement; for instance, a large, well-funded, daily day care center, and having the youth group volunteer to baby sit for single mothers within the congregation once a month, could both qualify as “free or low-cost day care.”
Only three types of outreach are offered by a majority of U.S. Protestant churches in a typical year: food pantry, food collection, or other food-oriented donations (73 percent), Vacation Bible School (68 percent), and holiday food programs such as Christmas or Thanksgiving baskets for poor families (65 percent).
Other types of community outreach offered by much smaller proportions of churches in the last year include prison ministry (25 percent), homeless outreach (24 percent), Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts (20 percent), blood drives (17 percent), after-school programs for kids (14 percent), sports programs (11 percent), and outreach to specific ethnic groups (11 percent).
Fewer than one out of ten Protestant churches offer any kind of free or low-cost day care services, abortion or pregnancy counseling, domestic violence programs, English language classes, job skills or job training, or adult literacy or reading classes.
Just like with evangelism efforts, there are denominational differences in offering community outreach programs. For instance, 46 percent of Methodist churches have some sort of homeless outreach, compared to just 10 percent of Southern Baptists. However, with community outreach efforts there is also a larger pattern of commonality among evangelical churches and among mainline churches than exists with evangelism efforts.
While evangelical churches offer a greater variety of evangelism programs and efforts, mainline churches are offering a wider variety of community programs that aren’t necessarily involving evangelism. Mainline churches as a group are more likely than evangelical churches to have food donations, holiday food programs, Vacation Bible School, homeless outreach, blood drives, Scouting, and domestic violence programs. Evangelical churches are more likely to offer abortion or pregnancy counseling and sports programs, although still relatively few do either of those.
The study also delved into pastors’ reasons for their churches not being more involved in community outreach (regardless of how involved they are). Problems common to at least half of all churches include lacking sufficient volunteers (58 percent), sufficient staff (56 percent), sufficient lay leaders (52 percent), and sufficient funds (50 percent).
Other significant obstacles explained by ministers are that there’s just not enough time to do everything (41 percent), lack of sufficient facilities (31 percent), that the congregation is mostly older people (26 percent), and that the church is located in a small town or rural area (25 percent).
In addition, 39 percent essentially are not highly interested in offering more programs for the community, saying they would rather focus on their own congregation than on the community, they would rather focus on spiritual needs than on physical needs, it’s not a major priority for their church, their community has no major needs, other organizations do these things better than they do, or their congregation or community really aren’t interested in community outreach. This is consistent across all major denominational groups, as well as between evangelical and mainline churches.
Lack of volunteers, funds, and facilities is particularly acute within Pentecostal churches. Methodist churches struggle with older congregations and rural settings more than average. Southern Baptist and Presbyterian pastors also are more likely than average to cite a preponderance of older people in the congregation. Lutheran ministers are less likely than others to point to a lack of resources such as staff, funds, and facilities, but more likely to say their congregation just isn’t interested in community outreach.
Ron Sellers, president of Ellison Research, found it ironic that so many churches and pastors put a low priority on doing more to reach out to their community. “In an environment where communities and people have so many needs, and in which church growth is such a hot topic and a stated goal for so many pastors, it seems odd that so many churches really don’t wish to do more,” Sellers observed. “This lack of priority takes many forms – the congregation isn’t interested, the community doesn’t want our help, we want to focus on our own people – yet if churches are not consistently reaching outside their own walls, how are they to grow? It was particularly surprising to see about four out of 10 mainline pastors, who tend to place so much emphasis on the social gospel, essentially saying that increasing community outreach isn’t a high priority for their church.”
Sellers also noted that while churches frequently cite a lack of staff, facilities, people, and/or money as reasons for not being more involved in the community, increasing those things doesn’t necessarily lead to greater involvement. “In smaller churches, you often hear about limitations, and how things can be ‘once we grow,’” Sellers said. “But pastors in larger churches – which usually have more staff, more funds, larger facilities, and obviously more potential volunteers and lay leaders – still commonly name the lack of these resources as obstacles to being more involved in the community. Plus, they are much more likely to add to the mix a lack of time to accomplish everything. Having more resources at your disposal apparently doesn’t mean these obstacles are significantly reduced or removed.”
STUDY DETAILS:
Ellison Research has conducted a series of studies among clergy and laity for Facts & Trends. Facts & Trends is a bimonthly magazine produced by the corporate communications office of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. It is designed to assist pastors, church staff and denominational leaders in their roles of ministry by informing them about LifeWay resources and how they relate to current issues in Christian ministry. For information about Facts & Trends, contact Chris Turner at 615-251-2307.
The study was conducted by Ellison Research, a marketing research company located in Phoenix, Arizona. The sample of 811 Protestant ministers included only those who are actively leading churches. The study’s total sample is accurate to within ±3.3 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level with a 50 percent response distribution.
The study was conducted in all 50 states, using a representative sample of pastors from all Protestant denominations. Respondents’ age, geography, church size, and denomination were carefully tracked to ensure appropriate representation and accuracy.
Evangelism activities in the last 12 months, by denominational group…
| Evangelism Activities | All | Southern Baptist | Other Baptist | Meth- odist |
Luth- eran |
Pente- costal |
Presby- terian |
All Others |
| Vacation Bible School | 70% | 80% | 77% | 79% | 91% | 47% | 77% | 64% |
| Literature (e.g. tracts or magazines) | 59 | 78 | 73 | 46 | 56 | 62 | 41 | 49 |
| Events (e.g. block parties, Fall festival) | 56 | 53 | 48 | 70 | 54 | 67 | 69 | 48 |
| Musical events or concerts | 51 | 61 | 47 | 52 | 38 | 64 | 41 | 43 |
| Mailings or fliers | 50 | 43 | 47 | 51 | 67 | 53 | 55 | 47 |
| Nursing home/retirement center visits | 49 | 48 | 45 | 51 | 54 | 55 | 38 | 46 |
| “Invite a friend to church” days | 42 | 39 | 45 | 44 | 37 | 54 | 47 | 35 |
| Revival or crusade | 40 | 58 | 47 | 28 | 2 | 64 | 15 | 25 |
| Evangelism training classes/groups | 38 | 54 | 43 | 21 | 37 | 44 | 36 | 30 |
| Door-to-door visitation in the community | 37 | 65 | 48 | 30 | 37 | 37 | 23 | 19 |
| Community service (e.g. cleanup days) | 31 | 28 | 24 | 33 | 35 | 34 | 42 | 29 |
| Online (e.g. blogs, web sites) | 27 | 16 | 23 | 26 | 41 | 33 | 29 | 30 |
| Audio/visual (e.g. tapes, DVDs) | 26 | 24 | 27 | 19 | 11 | 42 | 15 | 24 |
| Booth at county fair or other event | 20 | 19 | 14 | 27 | 25 | 22 | 23 | 16 |
| Sports programs | 11 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 12 | 5 | 12 |
| Telephone campaign to the community | 5 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 2 |
| Car care or car repair clinic | 2 | 4 | 6 | -- | 2 | 3 | -- | -- |
| Other | 14 | 14 | 17 | 13 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 15 |
| Nothing specific | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | -- | 5 | 6 |
Evangelism activities in the last 12 months, by church size and theology…
| Evangelism Activities | <100 People | 100 – 199 People | 200+ People | Mainline | Evangelical |
| Vacation Bible School | 60% | 78% | 85% | 79% | 67% |
| Literature (e.g. tracts or magazines) | 58 | 59 | 65 | 44 | 69 |
| Events (e.g. block parties, Fall festival) | 49 | 63 | 70 | 58 | 57 |
| Musical events or concerts | 47 | 54 | 62 | 51 | 53 |
| Mailings or fliers | 46 | 47 | 64 | 53 | 49 |
| Nursing home/retirement center visits | 47 | 45 | 60 | 49 | 48 |
| “Invite a friend to church” days | 41 | 38 | 52 | 45 | 41 |
| Revival or crusade | 41 | 43 | 28 | 18 | 51 |
| Evangelism training classes/groups | 31 | 40 | 58 | 30 | 42 |
| Door-to-door visitation in the community | 38 | 34 | 36 | 24 | 43 |
| Community service (e.g. cleanup days) | 27 | 26 | 50 | 40 | 25 |
| Online (e.g. blogs, web sites) | 18 | 30 | 52 | 31 | 26 |
| Audio/visual (e.g. tapes, DVDs) | 20 | 29 | 40 | 18 | 30 |
| Booth at county fair or other event | 19 | 17 | 25 | 19 | 20 |
| Sports programs | 7 | 12 | 23 | 8 | 11 |
| Telephone campaign to the community | 5 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 5 |
| Car care or car repair clinic | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| Other | 13 | 14 | 19 | 13 | 15 |
| Nothing specific | 4 | 3 | -- | 4 | 2 |
Community outreach/programs offered in the last 12 months, by denominational group…
| Community Outreach/Programs | All | Southern Baptist | Other Baptist | Meth- odist |
Luth- eran |
Pente- costal |
Presby- terian |
All Others |
| Food pantry, collection, or donations | 73% | 69% | 65% | 85% | 85% | 69% | 90% | 72% |
| Vacation Bible School | 68 | 70 | 74 | 77 | 90 | 45 | 75 | 65 |
| Holiday food programs (e.g. Christmas baskets) | 65 | 68 | 62 | 83 | 66 | 60 | 73 | 58 |
| Prison ministry | 25 | 20 | 23 | 26 | 21 | 37 | 23 | 22 |
| Homeless outreach | 24 | 10 | 18 | 46 | 22 | 24 | 27 | 23 |
| Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts | 20 | 8 | 13 | 39 | 36 | 13 | 51 | 18 |
| Red Cross blood drive | 17 | 17 | 12 | 26 | 30 | 6 | 33 | 19 |
| After-school programs for kids | 14 | 9 | 14 | 21 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 11 |
| Outreach to a specific ethnic group | 11 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 22 | 12 | 16 | 8 |
| Sports programs | 11 | 14 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 5 | 13 |
| Free/low-cost day care services | 7 | 6 | 3 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 10 |
| Abortion or pregnancy counseling | 7 | 12 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 7 | -- | 7 |
| Domestic violence programs | 6 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 14 | 7 |
| English language classes | 5 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 14 | 2 | 12 | 3 |
| Adult literacy/reading classes | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 |
| Job skills/job training | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | -- | 3 |
| Other | 22 | 14 | 27 | 31 | 24 | 12 | 24 | 24 |
| Nothing | 4 | 3 | 3 | -- | 2 | 8 | 2 | 6 |
Community outreach/programs offered in the last 12 months, by church size and theology…
| Community Outreach/Programs | <100 People | 100 – 199 People | 200+ People | Mainline | Evangelical |
| Food pantry, collection, or donations | 66% | 81% | 86% | 87% | 69% |
| Vacation Bible School | 58 | 80 | 83 | 77 | 66 |
| Holiday food programs (e.g. Christmas baskets) | 57 | 72 | 81 | 73 | 61 |
| Prison ministry | 19 | 24 | 46 | 24 | 24 |
| Homeless outreach | 21 | 23 | 33 | 37 | 18 |
| Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts | 11 | 29 | 35 | 39 | 13 |
| Red Cross blood drive | 8 | 20 | 45 | 26 | 14 |
| After-school programs for kids | 9 | 17 | 26 | 18 | 12 |
| Outreach to a specific ethnic group | 9 | 11 | 14 | 11 | 11 |
| Sports programs | 6 | 13 | 22 | 7 | 12 |
| Free/low-cost day care services | 4 | 5 | 20 | 8 | 7 |
| Abortion or pregnancy counseling | 6 | 7 | 11 | 3 | 9 |
| Domestic violence programs | 5 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 4 |
| English language classes | 2 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 4 |
| Adult literacy/reading classes | 1 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 2 |
| Job skills/job training | 2 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 2 |
| Other | 20 | 23 | 24 | 32 | 17 |
| Nothing | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
Reasons for not being more involved in community outreach, by denominational group…
| Reasons | All | Southern Baptist | Other Baptist | Meth- odist |
Luth- eran |
Pente- costal |
Presby- terian |
All Others |
| Lack sufficient volunteers | 58% | 61% | 54% | 57% | 52% | 69% | 47% | 55% |
| Lack sufficient staff | 56 | 55 | 56 | 56 | 39 | 63 | 44 | 55 |
| Lack sufficient lay leaders | 52 | 55 | 53 | 45 | 43 | 57 | 46 | 51 |
| Lack sufficient funds | 50 | 46 | 51 | 49 | 39 | 66 | 29 | 46 |
| Just not time to do everything | 41 | 37 | 39 | 39 | 43 | 43 | 48 | 44 |
| Lack sufficient facilities | 31 | 28 | 26 | 33 | 19 | 46 | 36 | 28 |
| Congregation is mostly older people | 26 | 34 | 20 | 37 | 30 | 14 | 34 | 26 |
| Small community/rural setting | 25 | 29 | 22 | 34 | 32 | 17 | 23 | 25 |
| Congregation isn’t really interested* | 13 | 14 | 5 | 20 | 25 | 9 | 14 | 15 |
| Rather focus on spiritual than physical needs* | 11 | 10 | 17 | 6 | 17 | 16 | 2 | 8 |
| Not sure how to go about outreach | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 19 | 9 |
| Not a major priority for the church* | 10 | 6 | 10 | 9 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Others do a better job at it* | 9 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 16 | 4 | 17 | 15 |
| Prefer to focus within the congregation* | 7 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 14 | 9 |
| Tried before, it wasn’t successful | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 8 |
| No major needs in our community* | 4 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 10 | -- |
| Community isn’t really interested* | 4 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | -- | 5 | 4 |
| Other reasons | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| * Combined: not interested in doing more | 39 | 37 | 38 | 33 | 49 | 35 | 46 | 42 |
Reasons for not being more involved in community outreach, by church size and theology…
| Reasons | <100 People | 100 – 199 People | 200+ People | Mainline | Evangelical |
| Lack sufficient volunteers | 62% | 55% | 49% | 51% | 62% |
| Lack sufficient staff | 59 | 50 | 51 | 48 | 59 |
| Lack sufficient lay leaders | 53 | 54 | 43 | 48 | 54 |
| Lack sufficient funds | 54 | 45 | 43 | 46 | 52 |
| Just not time to do everything | 31 | 52 | 57 | 37 | 44 |
| Lack sufficient facilities | 36 | 26 | 28 | 28 | 32 |
| Congregation is mostly older people | 37 | 12 | 14 | 36 | 24 |
| Small community/rural setting | 31 | 19 | 15 | 28 | 24 |
| Congregation isn’t really interested* | 18 | 10 | 6 | 16 | 12 |
| Rather focus on spiritual than physical needs* | 13 | 9 | 11 | 4 | 13 |
| Not sure how to go about outreach | 12 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 11 |
| Not a major priority for the church* | 11 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 10 |
| Others do a better job at it* | 6 | 12 | 15 | 12 | 8 |
| Prefer to focus within the congregation* | 8 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 6 |
| Tried before, it wasn’t successful | 7 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| No major needs in our community* | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Community isn’t really interested* | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Other reasons | 6 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
| * Combined: not interested in doing more | 39 | 36 | 46 | 38 | 39 |
Numbers may not add to exactly 100% due to rounding. "Don't know" responses are not shown. The survey included all Protestant denominations, but the groups shown separately in the table above were the only ones with large-enough subsamples to examine separately.
