Why Do Demographic Research for Church Ministry?

by Dr. Mark Platt
Presentation Workshop Notes

There are 10 reasons to do demographic research for church ministry:

1. To find the vast blocks of unchurched populations and to determine the amount of unchurched in your area that need Christ as their Lord and Savior.

2. To ascertain and meet the spiritual needs of people in your area.

3. To sharpen your church's vision and mission.

4. To determine the strategy for growing your church.

5. To use your resources efficiently for our Lord.

6. To prioritize the people and places that are the most reachable and needy.

7. To eliminate unresponsive areas and difficult populations.

8. To meet unchurched people as you gather the information.

9 To assess the real target area of your church that needs to be reached with the Good News.

10..To determine the heart and culture of your area.


Essentially
THE BIBLE determines our theology.
NEEDS determine our strategies.
CULTURE determines our style.
DEMOGRAPHICS determines our plans.


The Demographic Data will affect:

* your philosophy of ministry.
* your church name.
* your preaching style/theme/illustrations/persuasion
* your archecture.
* your evangelism methods.
* your worship style.
* your leadership style.
* your worship sevice times and days of the week.
* your church government.
* your music.
* your target audience.
* your church priorities.
* and many other things.

WHERE TO GET THE DEMOGRAPHIC DATA FOR YOUR CHURCH:

http://www.perceptnet.com/

http://www.link2lead.com/

Also click on: Meeting Community Needs Assessment Pack from www.buildingchurchleaders.com/ .

NATURAL CHURCH DEVELOPMENT: A SUMMARY

Dr. Paul Null, CBA, NorCal director of Next Generation Churches, has a passion to see all local churches grow in a way that is healthy and reproducing. Jesus said: "... I will build my Church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (Mt. 16:18). These are some principles it is believed that God uses in "establishing strong healthy churches today to reach tomorrow's generation."

Links that help:
Church Smart Resources: The ABC's of Natural Church Development
Church Administration

Based on Natural Church Develpment by Christian Schwarz

Natural Church Development is a "principle-oriented" approach. "Models" are concepts that one or sometimes many churches in some part of the world have experienced positively. But imitating these experiences may not be the right answer for churches in other situations. On the other hand, "principles" are those elements that have been proven to apply to growing churches around the globe.

What was Studied?

* 1000 different churches on five continents
* 32 countries
* 18 languages
* 4.2 million pieces of data
* large and small
* growing and declining
* churches persecuted by the state and churches financially supported by the state
* well-known churches and totally unknown churches
* churches from areas currently experiencing great spiritual revivals, as well as from regions which appear to be more spiritually developing

The Study Result - showed 8 Healthy Quality Characteristics

The results of the study showed there are 8 Healthy Quality Characteristics God uses to build his church!
* Empowering Leadership
* Gift-based Ministry
* Passionate Spirituality
* Effective Structures
* Inspiring Worship Services
* Holistic Small Groups
* Need-oriented Evangelism
* Loving-Relationships

The Adjective Makes the Difference !

The key in each of these 8 Quality Healthy Characteristics is the adjective, which can be considered a summary of the Six Growth Forces (note below) as they apply to that characteristic of: empowering, gift-oriented, passionate, functional, etc.. Every local church as some sort of leadership or worship or structure. Not all emphasize the adjectives at the front of each of these 8 Quality Healthy Characteristics. Below are some brieft definitions:

1. Empowering Leadership -

Effective leadership begins with an intimate relationship with God, resulting in Christ-like character and a clear sense of God's calling for leader's lives. As this base of spiritual maturity increases, effective pastors and leaders multiply, guide, empower and equip disciples to realize their full potential in Christ and work together to accomplish God's vision.

Leaders must consider it as one of their most important tasks to help Christians develop greater degrees of empowerment. They equip, support, motivate, mentor and coach individuals to become all that God wants them to be.