What motivates people to join Presbyterian churches? Good question! So good, in fact, that in 1996 the General Assembly approved an overture from Cherokee Presbytery to have Research Services and Evangelism work together toward the answer. More than two years and two national surveys later -- one of adult new members, one of confirmands -- we have a wealth of information on individuals who have recently cast their lot with congregations of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). In this and future essays, we'll explore some of the important findings from this study.
Let's look first at adult new members and some of the circumstances surrounding their decision to make an initial visit to the congregation. Most new members -- 78 percent by their own recollection were "intentionally searching for a (new) church home" at the time they first visited the congregation they eventually joined. But why did they choose to visit this particular church? For one thing, proximity: for 45 percent the church was "nearby or easy to get to." But personal connections were important, too: 18 percent had relatives already in the congregation, and 23 percent had friends or acquaintances there. And while a personal invitation was involved in many instances -- 35 percent of new members had been specifically invited to visit by a member or pastor -- it wasn't necessarily the invitation alone that did the trick. In many cases, groundwork had been laid so that the invitation fell on receptive ears: 42 percent of new members reported that another motivation for their initial visit was that "they liked or felt comfortable with people in the congregation they had previously met."
Few new members visited because of an advertisement or media campaign: for only 5 percent was a TV, radio, or newspaper notice influential in the first visit.
Given the fact that most were seeking a (new) church home, it should come as little surprise that most of them -- 64 percent -- also visited at least one other church in the year prior to joining. Still, few "played the field": only 14 percent of new members had visited as many as four other churches; 21 percent visited only one other church.
Presbyterian affiliation was not uppermost in the minds of most new members prior to their initial visit: such ties were "very important" for 22 percent and "important" for another 27 percent. In other words, finding a Presbyterian-related church was a low (or no) priority for a slim majority (51 percent) of those who later joined, including a quarter (24 percent) for whom it was "not at all important."
What have we learned? Among other things, it appears that getting potential new members to check out your church often depends on a complex mix of factors, some of which are largely beyond the control of the congregation. It helps to be located in a highly- mobile neighborhood, for example, with lots of new migrants from other parts of the country who are searching for a new church. (62 percent of new members live in a different home than they did 5 years ago.) It also helps to have members and staff who are involved in the neighborhood and community, and have a wide circle of acquaintances. And it helps if the members and staff are generally respected outside the church and make positive impressions on those they meet.
But personal invitations play a part, too. Remember that a third of new members did not visit any other churches prior to joining. Most of the rest visited only one or two other churches. All things being equal, churches whose members are out in the community regularly inviting people to church are more likely to attract new members because they're more likely to get them inside their doors for the first time.
Next time we'll look at what happens after they walk through those doors.
Email the author: Jack Marcum
Research Services