I need your help. With 27 years in ministry, filled with moments of incredible joy and some hard-earned lessons, I’ve recently encountered one of the greatest failures of my career, and I can’t figure it out. However, I believe that together, we can turn this from failure to a great opportunity. To start, I need your wisdom.
Let’s start with an explanation.
A year ago, I was so excited about a new initiative that seemed full of answers and help to pastors. After 18 years of research and development, we launched a spiritual fitness assessment that would take only four minutes to take during a Sunday service. It was designed to give pastors a detailed, in-depth look at the spiritual health and needs of their congregation. It would include a 56-page report full of personalized recommendations to help people in the church grow in Christ. It was simple and free, so in my mind, it was also a no-brainer.
Yet, when I explained the process and the reasoning behind it, gathered their feedback and offered this help to 50 local pastors, only one took us up on the offer. One out of fifty. That’s a 98% failure rate. I was stunned.
I’ve been involved in spiritual formation types of research at BTTB for a long time. That has included facilitating over 15,000 church surveys worldwide—across Africa, Jamaica, Japan, the Philippines, and the U.S. In all those situations, I’ve navigated cultural differences, prejudices, and challenges, but we always saw strong participation. So why, with this new tool, did 49 pastors walk away from something they said they needed?
The baffling part is that these pastors recognized the value of the spiritual fitness assessment. They came to lunches, acknowledged that they struggled to know where their congregations stood spiritually, and agreed that this tool was something that could help. Yet, when it came time to act, 49 never participated.
This leads me to wonder: Is it me? Did I misread something? Am I too old, or have I missed the mark in some crucial way? Here’s where I need your insight and wisdom.
Bottom line upfront: Respond and let me know what you think went wrong. Also, if you think your pastor would be interested in a spiritual health/fitness survey of the church, simply forward this email to your pastor and have him contact me.
The one church that participated was incredibly thankful with the results. The senior pastor was very interested in next steps to help solve some of the spiritual and programmatic issues that were identified.
When we synthesized all the data from SFA Case Study Church A, we discovered and reported some crucial opportunities (https://bttb.org/SHA-Case-Study-A). The congregation had 663 Biblically unengaged members, 144 self-identified non-believers, and 507 individuals in urgent need of true Biblical discipleship. However, the church also had 231 active disciple-makers and 246 mature believers who weren’t yet involved in discipling others.
The potential for transformation was—and is—huge.
By bringing the 663 unengaged congregants into transformational Bible studies, and supporting and empowering the 231 disciple-makers with better resources, SFA Case Study Church A is on track for exponential growth. Within the first year, if the church follows the recommendations of the study (plus Phase Two described below), the church will likely see life transformation on a broad scale, with more people being evangelized, discipled, and growing in their faith. The "each one win one" model of discipleship in the plan could lead to significant growth over the next five years.
This church is now considering Phase Two of the process, which is partnering with Back to the Bible to develop a customized, daily spiritual fitness program for their congregation. This program confidentially identifies and nurtures each individual’s spiritual needs to help them become Biblically engaged disciple-makers. It’s a comprehensive solution that leads to measurable growth and transformation all at no charge.
So, here’s my question: If this one church is on the verge of such amazing results, why didn’t the other 49 take advantage of the same opportunity?
I’m turning to you because you understand the importance of discipling and mentoring others. You know how crucial it is for pastors to be in tune with the spiritual needs of their congregations. So why do you think so many pastors would pass up a tool designed to help them do exactly what they say they want?
Proverbs 11:14 says, “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors, there is safety.” I need your guidance. I need your feedback to help me understand why this initiative failed so dramatically, despite the preparation, conversations, and clear need.
If we can solve this puzzle together, I believe we’ll unlock a powerful new way to help pastors and congregations grow spiritually across the country. But the staff and I can’t do it alone. Will you help me figure this out? Your perspective could be the key to cracking this mystery and helping us move forward. Please reply, and here is the link to the case study church’s feedback and opportunities report: https://bttb.org/SHA-Case-Study-A
Send your comments to me here.
Thank you for being part of this journey with me.
Onward and upward,
Arnie
Comments