By Mark A. Taylor
Late last year when Kent Fillinger, Ben Simms, and I were planning our annual megachurch issue, Kent and Ben had a new idea.
“Why don”t we do the same research with a group of smaller churches?”
I thought that idea sounded interesting, and the result is the issue you”re holding in your hands.
As is always true with projects of this kind, getting churches to send us their data is the most difficult part. For this issue, we invited churches in repeated printed and e-mailed announcements. Kent and Ben made several personal contacts. We fell short of our original goal to recruit 100 churches, but we believe this issue is an excellent first attempt.
If your church is not listed this week and you would like to be included in our next medium-sized churches report, please contact us today. We”ll keep a list and make sure to send you the forms the next time they”re ready. Just send a note to ch***************@*********ub.com.
Meanwhile, you”re sure to find a congregation or minister you know listed this week. We believe the list plus the accompanying analysis will appeal to everyone interested in what”s happening in our fellowship of churches. But, just as was true with our megachurch issue, Kent and Ben have prepared more material than we can include here. Find it all in the 2008 Medium-Sized Church Report: Deluxe Edition.
This report contains complete survey findings that will help you evaluate your ministry and strengthen your church. Topics covered in the report include:
“¢ Attendance and growth trends
“¢ Baptism ratios and trends
“¢ Leadership profiles of the senior ministers
"¢ Multisite insights
“¢ Worship styles and services
“¢ Giving and debt statistics
“¢ Church staffing
“¢ Outreach and missions giving and involvement
“¢ Church demographics
The 2008 Medium-Sized Church Report: Deluxe Edition is available as a downloadable resource at http://www.standardpub.com/detail.aspx?ID=4260 for only $14.99. Item number D021535910.
Church Stimulus Package: To help stimulate ministry discussions in your church, we”re offering two great resources for the price of one. When you purchase the 2008 Megachurch Report Deluxe Edition (single-use version) for $29.99, you will receive the Medium-Sized Church Report: Deluxe Edition FREE! This special offer is valid until October 16, 2009.
To receive your free copy, please be sure to enter BR52B (case-sensitive) in the Coupon Code field when you check out, after entering the Medium-Sized Church Report in your shopping cart.
Author: Christian Standard
Contact us at **@********************ia.com
