The fine folks at NAMB have agreed to let us release some new research. The research was done at the Center for Missional Research.
You should visit their site-- you can download over 2000 reserach presentation on a myriad of topics. The CMR web portal is one of the things I was most excited about when I worked at NAMB. (PeopleGroups.info was another). Richie Stanley is now coordinating research at NAMB and they continue to do good work.
Here is a rundown of what church planting research you can download.
First, is the full report of the Church Planting Survivability and Health study, a study involving 11 denominations and networks. You can download a presentation of that study here.
Second, are four articles that came from that study.
Part 1: The Survivability and Health Study
Part 2: How Many Church Plants Really Survive--and Why?
Part 3: 10 Factors for Higher Attendance in Church Plants
Part 4: Higher Baptisms in Church Plants
Third, is a new piece of research that looked at denominational "best practices" that led to higher church planting survivability and health. To do this, we did more in-depth analysis of several denominations to look for best practices. When we found a practices that was "statistically significant," we reported it and then I asked representatives to present what they did at last years National New Church Conference in Orlando.
So, you can find the full report here and a PowerPoint of that data here.
Finally, you can find my presentation of the best practices research that I recently gave at the NAMB State Summer Leadership Conference. It is a big download, but you can get it here.
In that presentation, I combined the presentations of 4 denominational leaders who shared their best practices in the areas we found statistically significant. Each network or denominational leader presented their overall church planting system, then presented their specific best practice as determined by our research. Each of them gave their permission to share their presentation. The presenters were:
Steve Childers presented the Presbterian Church in America assessment system.
Rod Koop presented the Foursquare peer support / mentoring system.
George Klippenes presented the Evangelical Free team approach and funding system.
Steve Pike presented the Assemblies of God community minsitry approach.
Tom Nebel and Gary Rohrmayer presented the Baptist General Conference training for local church giving.
At LifeWay Research, we are oversampling several additional groups to build on this study. Contact Lifeway Research if you are interested.
We are also discussing some new research projects for the next year. One may involve researching church planter profiles to create an on-line research validated assessment tool. Another involves best practices of mother churches.
More soon…
At next year's National New Church Conference (now called The Exponential Conference), I will again be coordinating the Best Practices track. Here is the info soon to be published at the Exponential Conference site:
When: Monday, April 21, 1-5 pm and Tuesday, April 22, 9-11 amLeaders: Ed Stetzer, author and missiologist
Description: This pre-conference intensive is intended to connect church planting leaders for a discussion of best practices and trends in church planting. Stetzer and several other presenters will share research and observations on best practices. Specific topics will be determined several months before the conference based on a survey of registered participants. The intent is to discuss topics of mutual interest to church planting leaders.
Likely topics include:
* General trends in church planting
* Multi-site and church planting
* Collaborative networks
* Movements: What can we learn from overseas?
* Urban and ethnic planting
* The growing influence of megachurches in church planting
* Recruiting, assessing, and selecting church planters
* Training, equipping, and supporting church planters
* Accountability systems (e.g. coaching, supervision, management teams, etc)
Many denominations, church planting networks, and leading organizations are expected to participate in this cross-denominational event. A number of organizations are planning to bring their national leadership teams to participate. You will not want to miss this opportunity to network with and learn from other like-minded leaders.
Comments (1)
What is Working and What is Not I have been struck by the focus in Ed's research about what has been working, and what hasn't. It seems clear that community engagement in most of its forms represents a significant element of most of the succesful plants. Many of them seem to find some way to connect with people through service outreach or marketing. If you add up all the different approaches that fit into the what is working column, its about 25%. What is equally as interesting is what is not working--cold or antiquated evangelism techniques. I believe that one of the best methods for starting this work is through a modified needs assessment in the community which takes advantage of the official status that needs assessment has as an appropriate way for organizations to get to know their communities. A good tool for that purpose is available on my website-- but the bottom line is that we cannot spend more time preparing our logo and sound system in our pre-launch preparation that we spend in building relationships. More than anything, the church planter and their team, need to connect with lots of people before they launch. Current estimates by many experts place that number at 1500.
Posted by David Mills | September 14, 2007 1:21 PM
Posted on September 14, 2007 13:21