June 2, 1999
EDITORIAL:
Standard snapshot pictures Baptists
___Take a moment to study a snapshot of a "typical" Baptist Standard reader. The Standard recently surveyed a random sample of 3,000 subscribers and heard back from 933 of them.
___This is part of what we learned:
___She's (56 percent of readers are women) retired (50 percent), 65 or older (51 percent), married (73 percent), Anglo (88 percent) and a layperson (84 percent). This reader rarely misses a Sunday at church (75 percent) and gives financially to support missions causes (92 percent).
___The reader is faithful to the Standard, reading every issue (71 percent) for 20 years or more (46 percent). Her subscription is paid by her church's budget (78 percent). She is most interested in reading about home missions (58 percent), foreign missions (54 percent), helps for leaders (51 percent), ministries funded by the Cooperative Program (58 percent) and parenting skills (47 percent).
___If this snapshot looks familiar, that's because it is. The profile of the typical Standard reader looks a lot like the most faithful members of our Texas Baptist churches. There are slightly more women than men. They are senior adults. They're regular in attendance and generous in financial stewardship. They've been Baptist Christians for a long time. They care about missions, ministries and family.
___You know these people; they're your friends and family. They're you.
___Of course, some pictures are equally interesting because of what's missing. That's true of our reader snapshot. We know we need to engage younger readers, particularly adults under age 35. We realize we need to recruit subscribers from a broader range of churches. We hope to demonstrate the paper's interest to increasing numbers of laypeople and to new Christians and new Baptists. In sum, we want to be the must-read paper for all Texas Baptists.
___We've already begun taking steps to make the Standard worthy of more readers.
___We're trying to make the paper more interesting by including more articles about faith and life, ministries that "work," real people with wonderful stories to tell, ideas that can change your church. Soon, we hope to publish full-color photos. We're improving our church newsletter program and expanding our Sunday school lessons. We've radically revamped our website and made it available for free (www.baptiststandard.com). We're figuring out how we can team up with your church to provide weekly online news and information. By next year, we hope to produce companion publications to reach special groups of readers.
___You may not have received our survey, but we want to hear from you. Send your comments and ideas, as well as inquiries about subscriptions and advertising, to my e-mail address: marvknox@flash.net.
___ --Marv Knox
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