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Congregational Vitality Project Congregational Vitality in the ELCA

Discover research insights and strategies to measure and enhance congregational vitality in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Learn about myths, generosity trends, and sustainability practices impacting church vitality.

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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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