Beta Vitality: The Results Are In

For the Beta Vitality Project the Task Force has been asked to collect a good deal of information to provide us with a better understanding of our Church. We have compiled it all to pass on to the Annual Conference, but I think it is important for you all to know too.

Beta Vitality is a pilot project that Cedar Cross has been invited to participate in, sponsored by the Annual Conference and the Tuell Center to revitalize churches. It is a two year project in which we will focus on different aspects of ministry, chosen by us and guided by a coach.

The first thing we did was to take a survey on August 25. Provided by a group called Natural Church Development the survey provides us with a better understanding of what we believe we do well and vice versa. They structure the results into eight categories: Empowering Leadership, Gift-based Ministry, Passionate Spirituality, Effective Structures, Inspiring Worship, Holistic Small Groups, Need-oriented Evangelism and Loving Relationships. Our Church scored highest for Inspiring Worship and lowest for Passionate Spirituality. Our average was above average (which means that generally we think well of ourselves) and we also rated high for Leadership, Gift-based Ministry and Loving Relationships. Fortunately we have a coach to assist us in analyzing what this means. I suspect that our score for Passionate Spirituality has something to do with the practice of spiritual disciplines, or the lack thereof.

On September 8 after the second service over 40 of us gathered with our coach, Reverend John Haller to assess our strengths and assets. Some of the top strengths we identified were Music programs, Openness, and our Children’s and Adult programs. The two top assets were the pastor (woot woot!) and our grounds… that would mean the trees. Other assets were our volunteers, building, music leaders, children’s ministry, and Cedar Cross Cooperative Preschool. I am pleased to see that there was little hesitation to list strengths and assets – this again means that we have a good sense of self-worth.

We were also asked to compile statistics from the last 20 years: membership, attendance, budget, Sunday School, etc. (This required visits to other local UM Churches because we don’t have the Journals.) When I look at these statistics I see a pattern of growth that changed dramatically with the departure of the first pastor, Tom Eberly, followed by a plateau stage and then a precipitous decline. At one time the average attendance was over 250 and an associate pastor was appointed here. Our current average attendance is close to 150. I think our current situation would be described as rebuilding. The numbers are starting to go back up, for which we are thankful. Our budget reflects the changes in the size of our church, but far less dramatically. However, staff salaries actually increased as we were in decline.

The Annual Conference has contracted with a service that provides demographics for our area. Some of the things that stood out for me were: An expected increase in families with children in our area; the relative high education of people in our area; the relatively low participation in religious organizations. It did not indicate whether this low participation in religion is local or regional – the Pacific Northwest is known as the “None-zone” because when people are asked what religions organization they belong to the most common answer is, none. There was this interesting breakdown:

Conservative Evangelical Christian: 37

Consider Myself a Spiritual Person: 46.8

Enjoy Watching Religious TV Programs 17

Important to Attend Religious Services 19.7

My Faith is Really Important to me 17.2

Hmm….. I have a lot of questions about these statistics. I would say that this indicates that there are a lot of people in our area who feel religious but do not belong to a church. Why? Are they “spiritual but not religious” or have they not found a church they feel comfortable in?

What does this all tell us? I look at it as teasers for further inquiry and discussion. After my son, Aaron took statistics in high school he warned me never to trust them. I would caution against making judgments, but invite curiosity. The Task Force will be discussing all of this at length. I believe I share with the Task Force a desire for this process to be transparent – for everyone to know what we are doing and talking about. I would like the whole church to be involved in what we do. Please feel free to ask questions of any of us.

Pastor Jim