Authors: Regardless of Size, All Churches Have Strengths to Exploit
by Allie Martin
June 2, 2004
(AgapePress) - A new book encourages church leaders to discover their church's strengths and to identify where change is needed.In her book Beyond the Ordinary: 10 Strengths of U.S. Congregations (Westminster John Knox Press, 2004), Deborah Bruce looks at vitality and health in congregations, based on information gathered from the 2001 U.S. Comprehensive Database of Information that was collected during the 2001 Congregational Life Survey for U.S. Congregations. That survey, for which Bruce was project manager, compiled data from more than 350,000 worshippers in more than 2,000 congregations representing more than 50 denominations.
Bruce and her co-author, Cynthia Woolever, concluded that every congregation has strengths to one degree or another -- and that by building on their strengths, they can transform their futures. Bruce explains that some of the findings were surprising, such as the fact that small congregations rated better in facilitating spiritual growth.
"For example, in a small congregation it's more common that they're very, very effective in helping their worshipers grow spiritually than in larger congregations," she explains. "We were very gratified to find that small congregations are not as bad off as sometimes they think they are, but that they do have strengths to celebrate."
Bruce also says the study found that many churches have negative views of their efforts when they miss the positive points.
"A lot of times people focus on what's wrong or what their weakness [is], and that just tends to be a very depressing outlook on life," the author says. "So we really encourage congregations to focus on their strengths and to use those strengths to do better ministry and mission in the world."
Bruce, a psychologist, is an associate research manager for the Presbyterian Church (USA). Woolever, a sociologist, is a professor of religious organizations for the Hartford Institute for Religion Research and was principal investigator for the U.S. Congregational Life Survey for U.S. Congregations.
