One of the underlying themes in the media coverage of the current race for the Republican Presidential nomination has been the religious beliefs of the candidates themselves. But should it be? Do Americans really take issue with a political candidates religious beliefs?

LifeWay Research has just released new findings in which nearly 70 percent of American adults say their votes are impacted, either positively or negatively, by the religious conviction of a candidate. In fact, the research shows that a candidates religion can be more of a detriment to their campaign than a benefit. Nearly twice as many (30%) voters are less likely to vote for a candidate because of the candidate's religion than they are to vote for them (16%). USA Today featured the research in the wake of Newt Gingrich's win in this weekend's South Carolina primary.

When asked, "When a candidate running for office regularly expresses religious conviction or activity, how does that impact your vote?", 16 percent are more likely to vote for a candidate who regularly shares their religious beliefs, 30 percent indicate they would be less likely to vote for a candidate expressing religious activity, and 21 percent of Americans say it would depend on the candidate's religion. 

In fact, just 28 percent say it would have no impact on their choice of candidate.

Creation and evolution is always a heated topic. It's come up in the Presidential campaign. Occasionally, creates a national controversy, always includes ongoing debates, and leads to lots of conversations.

As such, we wanted to know what Protestant pastors thought. This morning, LifeWay Research released new data on the views of Protestant pastors which suggests there is ongoing debate over the creation account in Genesis. While Protestant pastors overwhelmingly believe that God did not use evolution to create humans (and think Adam and Eve were literal people), other topics do not have the same level of agreement.

"It's not about you. The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or your happiness," wrote Rick Warren in The Purpose-Driven Life.

We are created for a purpose. So, books like The Purpose-Driven Life are answering a question that people are asking-- perhaps that's why The Purpose-Driven Life became the best-selling hardback book ever printed in the English language (other than the Bible). It answered a question that people ask often.

As believers, we know this and live this. However research released this week again shows that one out of every four people do not feel there is an ultimate purpose or plan for every person's life. USAToday cited our research about these "so what?" people-- those who do not care or think much about spiritual issues. They are real and I think they are a growing minority.

Over the holiday weekend, LifeWay Research released some new data on how Americans perceive and pursue spiritual realities (You can download the full report here).

USA Today ran a story citing the data on Christmas Day and The Christian Post has since ran a story on the findings as well.

Here are a few highlights:

Earlier this week, The Pew Forum released its new data on the size and distribution of Global Christianity. One interesting aspect of this research is the comparison they made to Global Christianity data from a century ago.

Both the decline of Christianity in Europe and the rise of the Global South have been well documented. This research again validates those trends. I've written about the rise of the Global South on a few occasions, such as issues related to Anglicanism and to theological trends research.

While the Huffington Post may traditionally be known as a liberal media outlet, in the religion newswriting community their reporting has a growing (and good) reputation. They cover a broad range of issues and religions-- as evidenced in their top stories of 2011 which released last week. 

Their top eleven included: 

• The Muslim Spring
• The Dalai Lama Steps Down
• Mormons in Politics
• The Muslims Are Coming, The Muslims Are Coming
• The End of the World
• Presbyterians Acknowledge Gays and Lesbians Can Be Ministers
• The Struggle for the Soul of Yoga
• A Jewish American-Israeli Rift?
• Occupy Faith
• The New Mass
• Interfaith Secularists 

View the Huffington Post's Top Religion Stories of 2011 for the details.  Also, if you are interested in reading news reports and commentary from a range of religions, I would visit the Huffington Post Religion Page. 

One of their top stories involved LifeWay Research: Mormons in Politics. If you're not familiar with the research, here's a some background information from my post on October 8:

With Mormonism becoming a major topic of discussion, about a year ago LifeWay Research decided to ask Protestant pastors their view. According to our random sample, most pastors feel strongly Mormons are not Christians. After several reporters asked if we had some data, I decided to release it. You can download the full report here: Protestant Pastor Views of Mormonism.

The survey polled 1,000 American Protestant pastors asking them to respond to the statement, "I personally consider Mormons (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) to be Christians." It's a forthright question some will find offensive, but it will be an increasingly important question.

Three-quarters of Protestant pastors (75%) disagree with the statement, "I personally consider Mormons... to be Christians," including 60 percent who strongly disagree and 15 percent who somewhat disagree. Just 11 percent somewhat agree, 6 percent strongly agree and 9 percent do not know.

In other words, the view that "Mormons are not Christians" is the widely and strongly held view among Protestant pastors. That does not mean they do not respect Mormons as persons, share their values on family, and have much in common. Yet, they simply view Mormonism as a distinct religion outside of basic teachings of Christianity. Many of these pastors may know Mormons consider themselves Christians, but Protestant pastors overwhelmingly do not consider them such.

Our research itself was not the story. The real story was when pastor Robert Jeffress publicly stating that Mormons were not Christians and were a "cult." His comment, related to presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, is what ignited the media frenzy and brought our research to the forefront.

Any thoughts or reflections on the HuffPo list?  Feel free to weigh in.

I don't typically blog about SBC-specific issues here on this blog. I save that for my posts at BetweenTheTimes.com. The reasoning for that is quite simple-- I have a broad array of readers and reading what can sometimes be tireless denominational arguing does not serve those readers.

However, this is a blog about research. And today at LifeWay Research we've released new data on the perception of Southern Baptists (and a bunch of other groups) in America. I thought it was worthy of your time regardless of your denominational affiliation.

On to the research (you can find the full article here):

The majority of Americans have a favorable impression of Southern Baptists...However, 40 percent of respondents have an unfavorable view of the denomination, more than a third strongly assume an SBC church is not for them, and the negativity is higher among the unchurched.

Respondents were shown the names of five “denominations or faith groups” and asked to “indicate if your impression is very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable, very unfavorable, or you are not familiar enough to form an opinion.” The study indicates 62 percent of Americans have a favorable view of Methodists compared to 59 percent for Catholics, 53 percent for Southern Baptists, 37 percent for Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), and 28 percent for Muslims.

The study sought to determine how the name might impact the interest or connection with a congregation. When asked their level of agreement with the statement, “When I see (fill in denominational affiliation) in the name of a church, I assume it is not for me,” 35 percent “strongly agree” a Southern Baptist church is not for them – higher than for Catholics (33 percent), Baptists (29 percent), Methodists (26 percent), and community or nondenominational churches (20 percent).

Significantly more respondents disagree with this statement for community or nondenominational churches, indicating they are considered as a possible fit compared to other Christian faith groups included in the survey – 58 percent compared to Baptists, 44 percent; Catholics, 43 percent; Methodists, 42 percent; and Southern Baptists, 38 percent.

Respondents were also asked: “If you were considering visiting or joining a church, would knowing that the church was Southern Baptist impact your decision positively, negatively or have no impact?” Forty-four percent of Americans indicate that knowing a church is Southern Baptist would negatively impact their decision to visit or join the church, 36 percent say it would have no impact and 10 percent say it would positively impact their decision.

-----------

This data should really not come as a surprise. It's been widely reported that denominational numbers are in decline while non-denominational churches are a growing category in America. So what does this specific data tell us?

1. A lot of unchurched people assume certain denominations are not for them.
2. Most of the unchurched don't have strong opinions or awareness of denominations – especially in heavily unchurched areas like the west and northeast.

 Here are some charts that tell the story.  Feel free to share them on your blog and opine as you desire. Yes, that includes you Methodists!

My guess is that many people will see the research and it will be a bit of a Rorschach Test—people will see in it what they want to see.  My hope is that people will consider how best to respond to this research rather than simply restate the view they already have. 

Real issues are at work here and they need to be approached with grace and wisdom. I hope all involved desire to ask what is, and what is not, a stumbling block-- that should be the real question. That was the question stated and debated when the issue first was mentioned.  And all of us should be committed to remove unnecessary stumbling blocks so that only the "stumbling block of the cross remains."  The issue is complicated, but one question remains paramount-- is the SBC name a stumbling block to those whom SBC churches seek to reach?  My guess is that people will debate that over the next few weeks and our hope is that this data will bring more light than heat to that conversation. 

The comment rules are in place. Click here to read them.

In addition, if you are planning to comment, please be aware that people outside of our denominational family are reading, and your comment needs to make sense to them. By the way, Anglicans, Presbyterians, and others, your comments are always welcome too.  I'd love your feedback and interaction.

So, if you post a comment that says something like "Draper needs to consult with the IMB, and then clear it with the EC before sharing with the WMU," your comment will not be posted. Explain what you mean (i.e., don't use acronyms) so that all can understand.

Our hope is that those considering the SBC name change possibility will find this helpful as they review it in their meeting today.

Yesterday, we released some data on whether churches will have services on Christmas Day.

I recently did an informal poll on the subject and found the discussion interesting.  You can read it here. The Christian Post has the story with some original reporting here.

Turns out, the vast majority are planning Christmas Day services-- and most are also including Christmas Eve (that's what our church is doing).

Here is an excerpt of the story we released yesterday:

While 9 in 10 pastors plan for their churches to host Christmas Day services this year, there may be plenty of space in the pews for those who actually attend.

A recent LifeWay Research study of 1,000 Protestant pastors shows that 91 percent of Protestant pastors plan to have services on Christmas Day while 69 percent said they plan to host Christmas Eve services.

"Having church on Christmas Day when it falls on a Sunday seems as if it would be as much of a given as having Thanksgiving on a Thursday, but this has been an issue of discussion and contention in recent years," said Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research. "Also, just because an overwhelming majority of pastors think that way doesn't mean those in their congregations necessarily share their perspective."

According to a December 2010 LifeWay Research report, 74 percent of Americans agree (strongly or somewhat) that "Christmas is primarily a day for religious celebration and observance," yet 67 percent of all Americans also agree that, "Many of the things I enjoy during the Christmas season have nothing to do with the birth of Jesus Christ."

"Churches see these conflicting values and we wanted to know how many churches plan to conduct services on each day - since that is also such a family day, particularly the morning," said Stetzer. Pastors were asked, "Christmas and New Year's Day both fall on Sunday this year. As a result, does your church plan to have services on the following days: Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day?"

Six percent of Protestant churches plan to have a Christmas Eve service but no service on Christmas Day. Twenty-eight percent plan to have a Christmas Day service but no service on Christmas Eve. Almost two-thirds (63 percent) plan to host both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services.

I was a bit surprised at the overwhelming number of churches that are planning Christmas Day services.  My comments at The Christian Post get at that a bit. For many churches, the thought of cancelling Sunday services (or Christmas Day services) is simply inconceivable-- outside of their tradition and values.  Yet, I know of many that are cancelling.

Were you surprised?  Any thoughts on your Christmas Day plans?

For the past decade, Leadership Network and Hartford Institute for Religion Research have been collected and releasing research data about megachurches in America. They have just released the data from their fourth such study.

Some of the more prominent findings include:

• Average growth among megachurches as a whole is at 8% over the past five years.
• Megachurches continue to draw youthful, middle class, family-oriented people as 70% of attendees are under the age of 50.
• Nearly 50% of the megachurches in America are located in the southern states (Texas to Virginia).
• A dramatic decrease occurred in the number of churches claiming a specific denominational affiliation. Over half (54%) are nondenominational, however, 70% claim to be connected to a network, fellowship, association, or denomination.
• Not surprisingly, 80% of the churches are still led by the pastor under whose tenure the most dramatic growth occurred.
• These churches continue to be regional draws as only 60% of attendees live less than 15 minutes away from the church. 
• The gender balance in megachurches is closer than smaller churches (55% women, 45% men).
• On a whole, megachurches were not as affected by the recent economic downturn as media reports made it seem. While some were affected greatly, the percentage of churches reporting serious financial struggles decreased in the past five years.

These are just some of the highlights. For the full report, click here.  Megachurches are fascinating and worthy of research. The research also pushes against many stereotypes and misinformation about megachurches-- facts are our friends. 

I just returned from preaching this weekend at Woodlands Church (pictured here).  I saw much of this research reflected there-- more on that later.

 In the meantime, feel free to share your thoughts below.

According to just about every stat I hear, pastors hate the ministry, are miserable, would get out what if they could-- and that it is hurting their family. You've probably heard these statistics at a pastors conference. So, we decided to do a crazy thing-- we actually asked them.

We find a different picture when we actually ask the pastors. There is discouragement and loneliness, but when 98 percent agree it is a privilege to be a pastor, we also know there is a great honor to being a pastor.

Here is a portion of our release:

In 2010 I wrote a piece for Christianity Today where I argued, "yes." After laying out all of good, bad, and ugly I concluded:

Given all that, call me a cautious believer in the idea that we can do more for the kingdom of God by doing it together with people of common conviction--which usually means in a denomination--than by doing it alone.

The idea of "going it alone" is embedded in the American consciousness. The cowboy/ frontier/entrepreneur spirit is-- for better of for worse-- in our DNA. But history demonstrates (especially my denomination, which has roots in the issue of cooperating for missions) that we can make a bigger impact together than we can apart. If for no other reason, pretty much all churches will eventually "associate" with other churches for the purpose of pooling resources to reach the nations. Eventually their vision will outgrow their resources. That's why God gave us the Church.

"Associating" and "cooperating" for a common goal is easier said than done. Cooperation requires common conviction, unity, and grace.

You can read the entire article to see how I feel, but do denominations matter to anyone else? According to a new study by LifeWay Research, the answer appears to be, "Yes, at least for now."

A majority of pastors with denominational affiliation believe it is vital to be part of a denomination, but a majority also believe that the importance of identifying with a denomination will diminish over the next 10 years.

The Christian Post carried our release here. Here is a sample:

In response to the statement, "Personally, I consider it vital for me to be part of a denomination," three-quarters of pastors (76 percent) agree. That includes 57 percent who strongly agree and 19 percent who somewhat agree. Ten percent somewhat disagree and 14 percent strongly disagree while 1 percent don't know.

Similarly, three-quarters (77 percent) of pastors agree with the statement, "Our congregation considers it vital for our congregation to be part of a denomination." Fifty percent strongly agree, 27 percent somewhat agree, 9 percent somewhat disagree and 14 percent strongly disagree. Two percent don't know.

Despite the convictions of identity, however, nearly two-thirds of pastors (62 percent) believe the importance of identifying with a denomination will decline over the next decade.

Survey participants were asked, "I believe that the importance of being identified with a denomination will diminish over the next 10 years." Twenty-eight percent of pastors strongly agree and 34 percent somewhat agree. Fifteen percent somewhat disagree, and 18 percent strongly disagree. Five percent don't know.

Many talk about the decline of denominations today, prompting us to ask pastors of churches that belong to Protestant denominations if they consider their affiliation vital. Many will be surprised at how strong their response was in favor of denominational connection, but also intrigued that their outlook on the future is much less optimistic.

A pastor's age, denomination, and education all play into how one perceives the value of their affiliation. Our press release tells the story:

The survey results reveal that pastors who consider themselves mainline are more likely than evangelicals to agree (strongly or somewhat) that their personal membership in a denomination is important. While 85 percent of mainline pastors agree that it is vital to be part of a denomination, only 74 percent of evangelicals agree.

Education and age also affect pastors' opinions of denominations. Those with at least a master's degree (62 percent) are more likely to strongly agree that their personal denominational identification is vital than pastors with a bachelor's degree (41 percent) or some college (48 percent).

Pastors ages 65 and older are more likely to strongly agree (71 percent) that their personal denominational identification is vital than those ages 55-64 (58 percent), 45-54 (55 percent) and 18-44 (48 percent).

The same groups -- mainline versus evangelical, education and age -- have differences in responses from pastors regarding whether their congregations consider identifying with a denomination to be important:

Those who consider themselves mainline (85 percent) are more likely than evangelicals (77 percent) to agree (strongly or somewhat) that their congregation considers it vital to be part of a denomination.

Pastors with at least a master's degree (53 percent) and those with some college (45 percent) are more likely to strongly agree that their congregation considers denominational membership vital than pastors with a bachelor's degree (35 percent).

Although age does not affect total agreement, pastors 65 and older (62 percent) are more likely to strongly agree that their church considers denominational affiliation vital than pastors ages 55-64 (48 percent), 45-54 (49 percent) or 18-44 (45 percent).

Pastors of larger churches are most likely to agree (strongly or somewhat) that the importance of denominations will diminish over the next decade. Seventy-two percent of those with churches averaging 250 or more in worship agree, compared with 62 percent of those averaging 50-99 and 53 percent of those averaging fewer than 50.

Pastors with less than a bachelor's degree (28 percent) are more likely to strongly disagree than pastors with at least a master's degree (14 percent) that the importance of identifying with a denomination will diminish over the next decade.

Although the majority of all age groups agree that identifying with a denomination will decrease in importance, pastors 65 and older are the most likely age bracket to strongly disagree. While 27 percent 65 and older strongly disagree, only 16 percent ages 55-64, 15 percent 45-54 and 16 percent 18-44 strongly disagree.

Ironically, the future value of most denominations depends at least in part on the very pastors who predict their decline in influence. The group most likely to predict denominational decline is pastors of larger churches, which is probably not surprising to most observers. Yet, it does point to the future challenge for denominational leaders.

Do you think denominations matter? I would love to know what you think in the comments section. Do not make the comments specific to one denomination without some explanation, etc.

As Christians, we are called to be citizens of the Kingdom and also live as citizens of the country where God has placed us. Part of being a "good citizen" is to care about where you are-- its economy, justice, morality, etc. We mostly do that in personal ways-- by being a "faithful presence."

However, through elections we get involved in government. And, when you are involved in government, that involves politics. Politics is often simply the machinery that moves government. If you want to influence government, you will (to some degree) be impacted by politics.

We have completed two surveys recently looking at pastors, people, and politics. The numbers are pretty clear: pastors and people do not think that pulpits are the right place for politics and they also feel that the IRS should not be using the threat of the loss of tax exemption to regulate those pulpits.

Today we released new data from LifeWay Research. Here is an excerpt from the release and an earlier release on the place of politics in the church:

The [new] research, which was sponsored by the Alliance Defense Fund, followed a related study conducted by LifeWay in October 2010 that found Protestant pastors also largely believe candidates for public office should not be endorsed from the pulpit.

In the new study, conducted in August 2011, a full 79 percent of 1,000 Protestant pastors strongly disagreed -- and another 7 percent somewhat disagreed -- with the statement: "The government should regulate sermons by revoking a church's tax exemption if its pastor approves of or criticizes candidates based on the church's moral beliefs or theology."

The earlier 2010 survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors found 84 percent disagree -- 70 percent strongly and 14 percent somewhat -- with the statement, "I believe pastors should endorse candidates for public office from the pulpit."

A June 2008 LifeWay Research survey also found 87 percent of American adults disagreed with the statement, "I believe it is appropriate for pastors to publicly endorse candidates for public office during a church service." In an October 2008 study, less than 3 percent of Protestant pastors agreed that they had publicly endorsed candidates for public office during a church service that year.

You can read the entire release here.

What role do you think politics should play in our churches? Feel free to opine in the comments.

The Pew Forum conducted the survey in nine languages, including English, from August to December 2010. A total of about 4,500 people registered to attend the Third Lausanne Congress, and nearly half completed the survey, using Web and paper questionnaires.

The survey's 2,196 respondents turned out to closely mirror the full set of leaders attending the congress in terms of region, gender, age and organization type. The organizers of the gathering sought to create a body that was representative of the geographic distribution of evangelicals around the world. Thus, they divided the world into 12 regions and invited delegates in rough proportion to their estimates of the number of evangelicals in each region and country. About six-in-ten of the evangelical leaders surveyed (57%) are from the Global South while about four-in-ten (43%) are from the Global North, including 16% from the United States. They are ethnically and racially diverse: 36% identify as Caucasian, 23% as black, 17% as Asian, 5% as Hispanic and 1% as Arab, with the remainder either not identifying as any of these (10%) or indicating they are of mixed race (7%). But they are less diverse in other ways: Nearly three-quarters of the evangelical leaders surveyed (74%) are employed by churches or other religious organizations, and they are predominantly college-educated, male and middle-aged, with very few under age 30.

Though all affirmed many tenants of orthodox Christianity, there was - according to Pew's research - some disagreement regarding other moral and theological issues. Some of the major disagreements include:

A new study from LifeWay Research reports that nearly three-quarters (71 percent) of pastors report 2011 offerings at or in excess of their budget requirements. That includes 25 percent with offerings exceeding budget requirements and 46 percent with offerings approximately at budget level.

The report, which can be found online here, describes the relationship between the local church and the economy. It says:

When asked how the current economy is impacting their churches, a majority of pastors (67 percent) report negative impact. That includes 58 percent who say the economy is affecting their church "somewhat negatively" and 9 percent who say it is affecting their church "very negatively."

The findings are similar to what pastors said in January 2011 but more negative than their opinions in March 2010, when only 62 percent said the economy was affecting their congregations negatively.

"Just as there are some positive signs in the U.S. economy, we are seeing more churches with some growth in offerings for 2011," said Scott McConnell, director of LifeWay Research. "However, average gains are small and not all churches will benefit depending on their local economy and the overall health of their church."

To learn more about LifeWay Research's findings read the news release at  www.LifeWay.com/News.

I wonder... does any of this surprise you? 

For example, 71% are at or above their budget (though I imagine many of those churches adjusted their budget down in the past couple of years). What about yours?

Two thirds say the economy has negatively impacted their church-- is that true in your church?

Today, I've asked Philip Nation over to the blog for a guest post about outreach, evangelism, and engaging our churches into the work of reaching our local communities. He is my coauthor on Compelled by Love and works with us at LifeWay Research.

At LifeWay Research, we consistently seek to understand the trends in culture and church. One specific arena of ideas we hope to communicate well is how church leaders can better understand how to minister contextually in their culture. Though we are tasked with supplying knowledge content, all of us have the ultimate goal of understanding how the gospel can be most widely spread for the sake of God's glory through the redemption of people.

In 2008, we engaged in a study in conjunction with one of the larger domestic mission agencies in our country (North American Mission Board) about outreach by churches in America. The survey included more than 15,000 adults as we sought to understand the most effective means of reaching the unchurched. We studied 13 approaches to outreach including mass mailers, radio ads, and door-to-door canvassing.

The study showed that communicating about your church through personal relationships is more effective than other mass communications means. We found that 63 percent are willing to receive information about a local congregation or faith community from a family member, and 56 percent are willing to receive such information from a friend or neighbor.

One issue that seems to come to us intuitively was validated through the statistics of the study. We found that the effectiveness of the invitation was often tied to its form: the more personal, the more effective.

Such a statement then raises a question: Are Christians regularly engaging people around them about their faith, their church, and, most importantly, their Lord?

For the second year, I am serving as the national spokesperson for the National Back to Church Sunday campaign (BTCS) from Outreach, Inc. It is an initiative with a simple premise that has eternal implications. It's intent is to help believers by giving them the tools, knowledge, and encouragement to engage the people around them regarding the life of their church. For 2011, BTCS is being held on September 18 and we anticipate that 10,000 churches will participate in the effort. In 2010, participating churches registered over 1.4 million invitations associated with BTCS.

On August 2, I will be teaching a one-hour video webinar about the opportunities we have on September 18 and how to best leverage the resources of your church for the purposes of outreach. During the webinar, I will discuss how to empower church members, build a vision for outreach in your church, and how partnering with other churches can create a more sustained effect in your community.

But until then, I want to ask you to engage with an important idea. It is simply this: Outreach is not evangelism. In fact, that idea was the theme of Ed Stetzer's messages to the National Outreach Convention just two years ago. And, I think he is right and it is a proper challenge for us. As we go about the work of seeking to lead friends, family members, and the whole community to worship with us--our work does not stop there.

Now, I serve on staff at a local church in Nashville and would love for that place to be packed every Sunday. But not just so we can say that a big crowd showed up. Rather, we want people to be invited, show up spontaneously, or however they arrive so an encounter with Christ and His gospel can occur. I plan on inviting people to church, but in doing so I am committing myself to walking that person as close to the cross as possible. I'm happy for anyone and everyone to hear the witness of the gospel during our service but each of us--you and I included--are called personally to be ambassadors for Christ according to 2 Corinthians 5:20.

So, as you move to the end of summer and ramp up emphases, events, and new sermon series for the "back to school" time of the year, keep it all in perspective. We do outreach so we can engage in evangelism. It is our calling and it is our privilege to represent Christ in such a way that those around us can more fully understand His gospel message for them.

Thanks to Aubrey Malphurs for coming by yesterday to talk about his new book, The Nuts and Bolts of Church Planting.

On that same note, in January and February of this year I blogged about the "7 Top Issues Church Planters Face" in several posts. That information was the result of partnering with my friend Todd Wilson, Director of Exponential, to do quantitative research alongside some of the better-known church planting practitioners in America. I was happy to hear from so many of you who are benefitting from the research.

Today I am making 2 reports available on the "Top Issues Planters Face" The first we are calling the Long Version. It is a source document of sorts. If you want it all, download the "Long Version."

The second report is the "Short Version," which is an edited compilation of my 9 posts featured here on the blog.

Download the Top Issues Church Planters Face: Long Version Report

Download the Top Issues Church Planters Face: Short Version Report

When I spoke at the D6 Conference, I made an off-handed statement that has generated a lot of questions. In that talk, I said something to the effect that teen rebellion is not found in all cultures. Thus, it is not a universal cultural experience. In other words, it is a myth that teens consistently rebel in every culture and context.

I probably mentioned teen rebellion is more common in Western industrialized societies with formalized educational systems. Since that time, people keep asking me, "where can I find more about that?" (Which teaches me not to make an off-handed comment in front of thousands of people.)

I have an article up at the Christian Post called, "Why Share Christ at Christmas," encouraging us al to use this time of year to share Christ, rather than argue about how a culture of unbelievers should greet customers in stores. It turns out that during the holidays a large percentage of people are pretty open to hearing about "the reason for the season."

Research has borne out the fact that Christmas is a great time to share Christ. In 2008 LifeWay Research did a study for the North American Mission Board. The results showed that among the top five times of life when American adults are open for considering matters of faith, Christmas tops the list. In fact, 47 percent of respondents indicated openness during the time of yuletide cheer.

Additionally, those in this same demographic indicated they were somewhat or very willing to receive information about a local church from a family member (63 percent) or a friend or neighbor from the church (56 percent). When we combine these ideas, it becomes clear that people are very open to hearing about Christ at Christmas, especially from people they know.

Christmas marketing campaigns and advertising are good support, but the most effective approach remains the personal relationship. Let's not miss it by being distracted by Christmas trappings ourselves.

In 2006, the team I led at the Center for Missional Research (my old job) sponsored a poll and found that 41 percent of Americans indicated they are likely to be open to an invitation during the Christmas season.

And it is not simply detached believers who are open. Our study found:

• Nearly 34 percent of respondents who registered "Other/None" for their religion indicated that they'd attend when invited to a Christian worship service during the Christmas season.
• Of the respondents who were not churchgoers, 12 percent of those who never go to church and 34 percent of those who rarely attend indicated they were more likely to attend a Christmas service if invited.
• And an astounding 42 percent of those who said they were not born again would come to a Christian worship service during the Christmas season if asked.

You can read the whole article at The Christian Post. But come back here to discuss. Are you finding that people in your community are open to such invitations? What value do you place on this sort of "attractional" approach to reaching the lost? Does your church celebrate Advent, have a Christmas Eve service, etc.?

It's Christmas time, and that means lots of things, but also it leads many to consider how Americans celebrate Christmas.

This morning, on the cover and inside USA Today, there are two stories that include our research on how Americans celebrate Christmas. I think Christmas research tells us perhaps a tale of two stories. The first one is the increasing secularization of the Christmas experience. In this case, we see such things as a vast gulf between the Christmas party, where 91% celebrate Christmas, and the Christmas pages, where only 28% read the story of Christmas from the gospels.

Here are some excerpts from the study that we just released:

Once it was determined who is celebrating Christmas, the survey turned to how Americans are celebrating. LifeWay Research uncovered a gap, even among Christians, between the religious emphasis of the holiday and the merry, family-focused traditions.

In fact, 81 percent put family first at Christmas, agreeing, strongly or somewhat, with the statement, "Family traditions are the most important part of Christmas to me."

Among a list of 14 things people do at Christmas, giving gifts to family members is the most common activity at 89 percent. Additionally, more than three out of four households report they gather with family or friends for a Christmas meal (86 percent), put up a Christmas tree (80 percent), listen to Christmas music (79 percent), and decorate their homes (77 percent).

Christians are actually among the most likely to enjoy elements of the Christmas season not related to Jesus' birth, with 66 percent saying they watch fictional Christmas movies, as compared to half of agnostics or those with no preference, and less than half of atheists and Americans of other religions.

Gift giving is also most popular among Christians, 94 percent of whom say they give gifts to family members. This affinity for giving gifts perhaps points to why Christians are also most likely to encourage belief in Santa Claus. Overall, a little more than one-third of households (38 percent) encourage belief in Santa, compared to 42 percent of Christian households. Just 27 percent of agnostics or those without a religious preference, 22 percent of those claiming other religions, and 18 percent of atheists encourage belief in Santa Claus.

Though a majority encourage belief in Christ at Christmastime, 67 percent of Americans say that, "Many of the things I enjoy during the Christmas season have nothing to do with the birth of Jesus Christ."

But that's not the whole story. I also think and research also demonstrates that Christmas time is an opportunity. Yes, there is a gap between Christmas participation and biblical information, but it's in that gap that Christians should step and proclaim the story of Jesus Christ.

In the second story that we released I gave some new and old research that points to this reality:

The study also found that one of the ways 47 percent of households celebrate the holiday is by attending special Christmas Eve or Christmas Day church services, which perhaps points to an earlier LifeWay Research study.

In December 2008, LifeWay Research presented respondents with nine seasons or life moments and asked: "Have you been more open to considering matters of faith during any of the following times in your life?" Among the nine occasions tested, "during the Christmas holiday season" earned the highest response with 47 percent of respondents citing that as a time they were more open to considering matters of faith.

"Our research shows that people are open during the Christmas season," said Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research. "When someone says 'Happy Holidays,' I'm not sure the response should be snarling 'Merry Christmas.' Instead, I'd suggest seizing the opportunity the season provides. Christians should be as bold in their witness as some are in protest."

In the 2008 study, LifeWay Research found that 67 percent of Americans say a personal invitation from a church-going family member would be the most effective method a local congregation or faith community could use to invite them to attend. Invitations to attend church from a friend or neighbor are almost as effective, with 63 percent of Americans indicating this variety of invitation would be effective.

This research should be encouraging to the church. Yes, this Christmas season will not be characterized by a clear picture of the incarnation-- at least not in our culture at large. But this season is a beautiful opportunity to reach out to relatives, friends, and neighbors with the gospel as a greater number of them are likely more open to the hope of the gospel than most other times of the year. Head over to USA Today, read the articles (here and here) and come back to the blog to discuss.

If you read this morning's USA Today, you saw our research on the front page-- the recession has caught up with America's churches. We released a story here and you can find the full details here.

Although the National Bureau of Economic Research has determined that the recession is over, a new LifeWay Research study is showing that after a moderate impact for two years, the recession is now significantly impacting local churches with 79% reporting the economy is hurting their ministries.

Scott McConnell explained, "Because many members give in direct proportion to their income, Protestant churches may be more impacted by unemployment and Social Security than the stock market. Until unemployment turns around, Protestant churches may continue to struggle financially."

But the report also revealed encouraging developments as well. Forty-nine percent of the churches surveyed reported that volunteering in the community has increased in the past year in comparison to previous years, and 47 percent of churches are spending more money to help the needy.

Head over to USA Today to read more about the research and come back here to discuss.

Special note: Today, at 2p.m. central, I will discuss this research and how churches can deal with the recession. You can join us live right here.