The U.S. Congregational Life Survey is the largest profile of worshipers and their congregations ever done in the United States. More than 300,000 worshipers from more than 2,200 congregations were polled in April 2001 as part of a broader body of research done in the U.S., England, Australia and New Zealand. The congregations surveyed came from more than 50 faith groups, including nondenominational and Pentecostal congregations, Protestants and Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Jews, Buddhists, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In the United States, the research was funded by the Lilly Endowment Inc. and by the Louisville Institute, based at Louisville Seminary. Cynthia Woolever, director of the U.S. Congregational Life Survey, also works for the PC(USA)’s Research Services Office.
Among the most recent findings of the survey, Woolever said, were that:
• Size does not determine a congregation’s success. “Meaningful worship happens in congregations of all sizes,” not just those with the resources to put on “the best show,” Woolever said in discussing the findings during a recent meeting of the Associated Church Press in Indianapolis. In fact, people are more likely to participate actively in small congregations — to attend a Bible study, for example, or to hold a leadership position — than those from bigger ones.
• Conservative congregations and those that are historically black tended to do better on a number of measures than did mainline Protestant and Catholic churches. Conservative and historically black congregations were more likely to be places that helped people grow spiritually, where people found worship to be meaningful, where they actively participated and felt a sense of belonging, for example.
• Mid-sized congregations — those whose worship attendance was between 100 and 350 — were given the best ratings in caring for children and youth. Catholic parishes scored the lowest in this, and conservative Protestant churches the highest.
• Several factors seemed to predict growth. The strongest predictors for whether a congregation would get bigger — whether it would grow in numbers, as opposed to spiritual growth — were if the congregation did a good job caring for children and youth, had high levels of participation in small groups and other activities, and seemed welcoming to new people.
Too often people who want a congregation to fluourish look for some sort of simple fix, Woolever said. They think that if they just bring in a few more people or try contemporary worship or move to the suburbs, “we’ll be just fine.” But she said that rising above the ordinary requires a congregation to show intelligence, heart and courage — to ask, “What gives us joy, what are we really about?” and “What are we going to courageously seek?” In all strong congregations, she said, something already works, people focus on those strengths, and they value the best of the past as well as having a vision for the future.
Woolever also said that congregations can’t legitimately use their size (“We’re too small”) or affiliation (“Well, we’re Presbyterian — we’re not supposed to be growing as much as a conservative church”) as reasons not to be strong and vibrant congregations. The survey found examples of successful congregations of all sizes, in cities and in rural areas, in many different situations — leading Woolever and her colleagues to conclude that “churches just really have to say, ‘What’s going to work for us in our location with the people who are here?'”
Some other conclusions from the study:
• People who attend small congregations are more likely than those from mid-size or larger congregations to say they’re growing spiritually and to feel empowered to use their gifts and talents for leadership. People also report a strong sense of belonging in small congregations — “small congregations have a lot of strengths,” Woolever said.
• Congregations whose worshipers are younger than the average age of those attending worship also have a strong sense of belonging, and “the sense of home is particularly important to younger people,” Woolever said. Congregations whose members are younger also tend to do a better job caring for children and teen-agers.
• When focusing on the community — everything from being involved in community service to voting and making charitable contributions — “size doesn’t matter,” but mainline Protestant congregations have the strongest community focus, as do congregations with older worshippers, Woolever said.
• Conservative Protestant congregations and younger ones tend to have a stronger vision of the congregation’s future.
• Small congregations, conservative Protestant churches and historically black congregations have the strongest record of faith-sharing — placing the strongest emphasis on talking to others about their faith, inviting people to worship and reaching those with no connection to a congregation.
• Congregations have widely differing stories of how many new people they attract — ranging from just a trickle who’ve come in the last five years to close to 80 percent. Some of that is due to mobility, Woolever said. Some communities are high-transfer places where lots of people come and go. But “small churches do just as well attracting new people” as larger ones do, she said, and younger congregations tend to have more new people, as do conservative Protestant congregations (historically black congregations have the fewest). Catholic parishes tend to draw more transfers; Protestant churches more people who’ve switched denominations. And for first-timers — bringing in people who’ve not regularly attended worship before — no particular faith group is doing better than another.
