thanks to you - Baptist Bible Tribune

Digressions
Digressions incontestibly are the sunshine; they are the life, the soul of reading.
-Laurence Sterne
Church uses text messaging to
get congregation connected
In an effort to increase retention levels
and help the congregation grow
spiritually, one Florida church found
a way to stay on people's minds
throughout the week — text messaging.
Assisted by technology from Fellowship
Technologies, the church asked
for volunteers who would receive
and read Bible verses daily via text
message. One hundred twenty-five
people committed to reading the
text-format verses for a 30-day
period. Tracked with management
software from Fellowship Technologies,
the results showed that
those who participated became
more involved in other ministry
opportunities in the months to
follow. Getting people involved
and growing spiritually takes
time, but if you have to start
somewhere, why not start
simple and utilize a method
that most people are already
comfortable with and
(literally) attached to?
Source: Target Marketing, December 2008, "Retaining the Flock" by
Heather Fletcher; p 11.
Churched or Unchurched?
A
n Ellison Research study shows that trying to list
Americans in either the "churched" or "unchurched"
category may not give an actual understanding of
church attendance. Of the individuals surveyed who
considered themselves "churched", 63% attend at
least once a week. The remaining 37% can be broken
down as attending three times per month (12%), twice
per month (16%) and once a month (9%). The end
result is that a quarter of Americans who consider
themselves churched, may only attend once or twice
per month. Survey results indicate that rather than
two categories, an accurate picture of church attendance
is as follows:
11% More than once a week
22% Once a week
14% Two to three times a month
5% Once a month
9% Occasionally, but not on a
regular basis
10% Only on religious holidays
29% Do not attend at all
Source: Ellison Research, www.ellisonresearch.com/release/20080714.htm
Study shows unchurched prefer gothic church architecture
In an age where church architecture
has become noticeably
more functional and less about
stained glass and steeples,
unchurched Americans ages
25-32 gave 58.9 of 100 possible
preference points to church
buildings that were more gothic
in outward appearance when
compared to more modern
architecture. According to a
LifeWay Research online survey
taken by 1,684 adults who had
not attended any kind of church
within the previous six months
(except for special days or
events), the majority of people
were more attracted to traditional
church architecture than a
contemporary functional design.
In a society mesmerized by outward
appearance, it comes as a
small surprise that "More than
half of the unchurched indicated
the design of a church building
would impact their enjoyment
of a visit to church." Yet the
survey also speaks to the fact
that even unchurched Americans
associate church architecture
with something that appears
foundational and unchanged.
Source: Baptist Press, "Architecture survey:
Unchurched prefer traditional styling
for churches outside, in" by Tobin Perry,
www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?Id=27767
8 Baptist Bible Tribune [ January 2009 ]