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Congregational Vitality Project Congregational Vitality in the ELCA

Congregational Vitality Project Congregational Vitality in the ELCA. Presented to: Religious Research Association – 2016 Atlanta DEM Gathering – 2016 in Chicago. Linda Bobbitt Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. What is a vital congregation? . Fulfilling mission

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Congregational Vitality Project Congregational Vitality in the ELCA

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  1. Congregational Vitality ProjectCongregational Vitality in the ELCA Presented to: Religious Research Association – 2016 Atlanta DEM Gathering – 2016 in Chicago Linda Bobbitt Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

  2. What is a vital congregation? • Fulfilling mission • Great Commandment, Great Commission • Connecting with God, each other and the world • Sustaining mission over time • Critical mass of people, energy and financial resources • We need to change the conversation about what it means to be a vital church.

  3. Congregational Vitality Project Goals • Learn to measure congregation’s mission • Measure current vitality and identify priorities for ELCA, synods and congregations • Learn how to help congregations become more vital. • Replicate best practices across the church. • Ultimate goal to increase the number of vital congregations in the ELCA.

  4. Measuring mission • Vitality Surveys • Every member survey – long form (over 400 surveys since 2012, >25K individuals) • Congregational Leadership – short form (93 congregations) • Key Informant – annual report for ELCA (7069 congregations) www.CongregationalVitalityProject.com

  5. ELCA Report & Synod Reports Reports available at www.congregationalvitalityproject.com

  6. Annual Report • 7069 Congregations answered vitality questions on annual report • 75% reporting • Key informant – usually pastor, sometimes secretary or group response • 15 Item CVS Scale Reliability r= .913, all one factor

  7. Do key informants represent larger congregation? • 184 congregations took larger member surveys in 2015-2016& annual report • Correlated r=.617 • Paired t test: On average, key informants rated congregations lower • (3.7 vs 3.8) (t=-4.527 (183) p=.000) • Chart shows difference (Congregations – Key Informants

  8. Scale 1 (poor), 3 (okay), 5 (very well) Average 15 items All ELCA congregations percent by level Vitality levels Very well= >4.5 Well= 4-4.4 Okay= 3-3.9 Struggling=<3 Vitality in the ELCA

  9. Areas of Strength and Challenge

  10. Specific items

  11. Vitality by stage of development • SAWC: Synodically Authorized Worshiping Communities – Exploratory • CUD: Congregations Under Development • Newly Organized: last 3 years • Established

  12. New ministry strategies- forming congregations

  13. Myth Busting Investigating some of the myths about what it means to be missional

  14. Larger Congregations are more vital Average Worship 1- Small 2-Pastoral 3- Program 4-Corporate 5-Mega ANOVA • Significant differences – low/high • Adjacent the same

  15. Size and Vitality – Deeper lookBut… vital congregations aren’t necessarily large

  16. Rural congregations are less vital than those in suburbs Context 1- Rural farm 2-Rural non farm 3- Small city <10K 4-Small city 10-60K 5-Med. City 60-250K 6-Suburb near med city 7- Large city >250K 8-Suburb <10 miles of large 9- Suburb > 10 miles of large • Chi-square is significant But differences minimal

  17. Context and Vitality – Deeper lookMany rural cong. struggle, but many are also vital

  18. Vital congregations are more generous. • Types of generosity • Regular giving - members giving unrestricted dollars to congregation • Mission Support – given to denomination • Other – given to local and national causes • Controlled for size (ANOVA comparisons) • Regular giving per attendance: No – vital congregations are not more generous • Giving changes f0r good and bad reasons • Very high per member giving in small and pastoral churches with low vitality • Very low per member giving in corporate congregations with low vitality • Per member giving tends to be higher in smaller congregations • Mission support • No difference between more and less vital cong. • Other giving • No difference in smaller cong. • Corporate and mega cong. gave more when vitality >4 • Corporate 4.8%-6.5%, Mega 4%-8.5%

  19. Congregations that are more sustainable are more generous Balanced budget = income within 10% of expenses or more (ANOVA comparisons) • Regular Giving • Congregations that balanced their budget (income=> expenses) had higher per member giving • Mission support • Small, pastoral and program cong. with balanced or positive budgets gave slightly higher percentage to mission support • small 3.5%-4.3%, pastoral 3.6% -4.6%, program 3.9%-5% • Other giving is related to whether a congregation lost or earned money last year. • Pastoral and program cong. with balanced+ budgets gave a more • pastoral 3.5%-4%, program 3.7%-4.9%

  20. Congregations that emphasize tithing are more generous • Congregations that emphasize tithing tend to be larger • When size is controlled: • Vitality is higher in small, pastoral and program churches that emphasize tithing • Per member giving is higher in small and pastoral churches that emphasize tithing (t- test comparing those who emphasize tithing with those that don’t)

  21. Sustainability & Vitality Can we remain vital into the future?

  22. Outlook toward the future (all congregations)

  23. Future Outlook– all congregations

  24. Growth comparisons Vitality & Growth • Matched sample of 473 congregations from around the church. • Compared each vitality level to the change in worship attendance from 2010-2015 Growth

  25. Mission & Sustainability • Sustainability levels – 2015 data • Not Sustainable= income> -10% of expenses • Sustainable income within 10% of expenses or >10% • Vitality levels • Not Vital = CVS ave <4 • Vital = CVS ave >4

  26. Implications • Needs • New congregations focus on sustainability. • Established congregations focus on renewal of mission. This is the greatest need in the ELCA. • Current research focused on measuring congregational renewal efforts. Connecting missional congregation theory to congregational renewal efforts and testing to see what happens. • 12 participating synods • Quantitative and qualitative data collection (pre-post) systematic outcomes • Increased vitality scores • Changes in mission support, attendance • Establishment of new practices (spiritual, adaptive, neighborhood relationships) • Shift in missional imagination www.CongregationalVitalityProject.com

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