November 27, 2000
Lay involvement key to growth
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___HOUSTON--Lay involvement is the single most significant predictor of growth in Southern Baptist churches, according to new research by a Purdue University sociologist.
___Kevin Dougherty, a graduate student in sociology focusing on religion, presented his analysis at the annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion in Houston this fall.
___He used data from the Annual Church Profile, a nationwide statistical poll of Southern Baptist churches, to compare factors from 1985, 1990 and 1995. The analysis examined the age of a congregation, its size and number of paid staff members as other potential factors related to church growth.
___The age of a church was found to be a slightly negative factor for growth. Size was found to be a slightly positive factor for growth.
___Dougherty also found the more paid staff members a church adds, the more growth is slowed. This is probably because adding more paid staff members decreases the need for lay involvement, he explained.
___Lay involvement "significantly and positively fosters growth in Southern Baptist congregations," he noted. In fact, lay involvement may be at least 50 percent of the fuel behind church growth.
___For the purposes of his study, lay involvement was measured by a combination of Sunday School attendance and worship attendance as a ratio of total membership.
___"The importance of participation likely builds from its interconnection with belonging," Dougherty suggested. "People are attracted to a place where they can belong. Congregations that cultivate belonging are the ones that grow."
___He added: "Congregations desiring growth must not let building campaigns, professional staff and programmatic initiatives obscure (their) most important institutional resource. The wise investment for the congregation is an investment in participation."
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