170 likes | 309 Views
Impressions of Southern Baptists by the Unchurched (2006). Center for Missional Research Ed Stetzer Richie Stanley. People who attended a church service in the past six months had a more favorable impression of Southern Baptists than those who had not attended (41% versus 19%). .
E N D
Impressions of Southern Baptists by the Unchurched(2006) Center for Missional Research Ed Stetzer Richie Stanley
People who attended a church service in the past six months had a more favorable impression of Southern Baptists than those who had not attended (41% versus 19%).
Surprisingly, over 40 percent of those who'd attended a service were not familiar enough with Southern Baptists to have an impression.
And over half (55%) of the people who had not attended a service were unfamiliar with Southern Baptists.
Almost half of those surveyed just have no familiarity with who we are (Southern Baptists).
Twenty-two percent of those who attended a church service within the past six months said they would be more likely to visit or join a church if they knew it was Southern Baptist.
Those who didn't attend a Christian service within the past six months were less favorable (11%) about visiting or joining a church if they knew it was Southern Baptist.
However, even those who reported attending a service still have more negative than positive reactions to knowing a church is Southern Baptist.
Among the unchurched people who expressed an opinion, almost three times as many said it would have a negative impact.
Although the positive perception of Southern Baptists in the South was the highest for any region, the negative impressions were actually higher than the positive.
In other words, the surveyed unchurched in the South who have an opinion about Southern Baptists were more negative than positive.
We also examined the survey results by age and willingness to "visit or join" a church. The same pattern was found from the last study-younger adults were substantially less willing to visit and join a church if they knew it was an SBC church.