How Congregations Respond to Newcomers

One of the most important aspects of a growing congregation in America is its immediate response after someone new attends church for the first time. Growing churches make contact during week or two after a newcomer visits and current methods of contact include mail, telephone, Email, personal visit and sending materials such as a brochure about the congregation, and audio cassette or CD or even a short documentary DVD about the congregation.

A key question tested in a recent survey is which method is most effective. The results are surprising, but illustrate how much more complex the question of effectiveness can be than it is usually assumed to be. In fact the data show that there is no real difference in the effectiveness of each approach is measured by itself. The proportion of growing churches that use each method is near 50 percent, while a little less than half report that they do not use each method. Nothing conclusive here; pick the one you like and go with it.

Wait a minute! If we look at the percentage of growing churches that use combinations of these methods, then a striking correlation surfaces. Growing churches that use ...

• none of these methods is 37 percent
• one method is 45 percent
• two methods is 48 percent
• three methods is 51 percent
• four methods is 57 percent
• all five methods is 65 percent

So the key is not finding which method is most effective, but the cumulative effective of using as many of the methods as you can.

This is just one of the hundreds of findings that will be published in September in the new report from the Faith Communities Today (FACT) series, American Congregations 2008. We looked at some of the page proofs today during the annual meeting of the interfaith Cooperation Congregation Studies Partnership in Chicago. CCSP is the consortium of some 40 denominations and faith groups that does the FACT studies. The main agenda item at this year's annual meeting is planning for the 2010 FACT Survey, a replication of the first major study of American congregations in 2000 which will result in a full decade of trends for hundreds of items.

Comments

[chris]

Forgive my wacky brain that has this classification bent. It noticed that the methods were "information sharing" types. I was curious about "friendship sharing" types such as potlucks and postcards. Are these still in vogue?

[Monte Sahlin]

Postcards would be included in "by mail" in these data. All of these methods could be "friendship sharing," depending on how they are implemented. That is a dimension that is very hard to measure in research. The majority of members in every congregation that I've surveyed (over 1,000) thinks they they are "warm and friendly" and has a minority that thinks it is very unfriendly. Friendship is dependent on a number of cultural factors and the fit between individuals, as well as between the newcomer and the group, are critical in determining whether it works or not. A fellowship meal following worship is an opportunity for the possibility of individual fit to be tested out. Unfortunately that item was not included in this survey. It would take a number of questions to determine if such a potluck actually works from church to church. It is something that needs to be explored. I have noticed a trend that more and more churches (of all denominations) feel that eating together is an essential part of Christian fellowship that must occur each week with worship. Monthly potlucks seem to be on the way out replaced by weekly.